Liquid Flame
by Indygodusk
Summary: Tokio Takagi teaches her students about the world after magic came, but even she can't explain the mysterious deaths plaguing her town. Hajime Saitou knows, but he has his own agenda.
1. Liquid Lights

A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and its characters do not belong to me. Oh, the wicked things I'd do with them if they did.

_**Warning**_: DARK: This story will contain graphic images of violence.

**Edited** 05Jan06, thanks to the talented and charming _KC Evans._

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_**-Liquid Flame-**_

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 1: Liquid Lights**

Night had long ago washed away the last smudges of a disappointing sunset and a drizzling fog the color of yellowed bones hid the moons and stars from the gaze of anyone who might be searching for their comforting radiance. Swathed in fog, houses, trees, and light poles became abstract geometric shapes on a starving painter's canvas. Further obscuring the scenery, beads of moisture flecked the windows. On this night, not even the protection of high walls and stout doors could completely dispel the visceral disquiet caused by the blindfolding of both the heavens and the earth.

Adjusting the sniffling body in her arms, Tokio Takagi took a step away from the hall window and the dismal scene outside. Instead of shutting out the elements, the wavy glass in the windowpane seemed to amplify the unseasonable chill emanating out from the fog's diffuse glow. Not even the cheery red and yellow curtains seemed to help. In the dark they seemed almost gray, an insubstantial barrier to the icy fingers reaching into the room.

Tonight, Tokio had drawn nightmare duty for the youngest residents at the Aizu Academy. Later on in the semester the older children would be given the responsibility. For the first few weeks of school year, however, the teachers liked to keep watch.

Occasionally onerous, but usually uneventful, it was a task she had a lot of experience with. Though she was a teacher now, Tokio had once been a student here herself. She remembered those nights in the past when she'd been forced to leave the warm stolidity of the other teenagers to sleep on a cot nearby the younger children. Some nights, she had wondered if she would have been so weak and weepy if she'd come to live at this school at the age of five. Other nights, she had wondered if she would have been so brave and strong.

Tonight, the warm body cuddled in her arms was Chi'na – petite, five-year-old Chi'na of the licorice braids and chocolate syrup eyes who only a week ago had lost her parents in a boating accident. When her quaking sobs had threatened to wake the other small sleepers, Tokio had taken her out of the dorm room full of cheerful yellow beds, set up to mimic ducks sitting in a row, and into the dimly lit hallway. She had hoped a few minutes at the window would help the child return to sleep. Yet Tokio hadn't reckoned on the weather staying so gloomy. The scene outside the hall window was the last thing to bring comfort to a distraught child.

Gliding along the red-brown floorboards, she tried to step quietly over the rainbow braided rugs on her way past rooms full of sleeping children. Like an octopus, the child had captured Tokio within the circle of her arms and legs, clutching onto folds of fabric and hair tight enough to suffocate if she thrashed too much. A wince escaped Tokio as the child's grip tightened in her hair.

Quickening her step, she saw the doorway to the living room just ahead. It loomed mysteriously in the suffuse light creeping down the hall from the fog-draped windows. For a moment she hesitated. Hearing nothing in the corridor but the sound of the crying child, she shook off her foolish thoughts. Tokio maneuvered the door open with a barely audible creak. Entering, she made her way to the smooth-sailing rocking chair standing sentinel next to the still smoldering fireplace.

"Miss Takagi, I wa- wanna go home," Chi'na sobbed out, clenching her sticky fingers in Tokio's night braid and tugging fretfully. A shudder shook her small frame, either from unhappiness or a chill from the icy draft drifting down the chimney. Supporting Chi'na's body with one arm, Tokio used the other to put several logs on the fire. Then she grabbed a poker and stirred up the coals until the wood caught flame.

"I know, koneko," she sighed soothingly, rubbing her hand in waves up and down the child's narrow back, crinkling and smoothing her pale blue nightgown. "I know."

Sinking into the rocking chair, Tokio rearranged Chi'na's wayward limbs and began singing a soft melody. Sniffling, the child snuggled closer. Slowly the listing to-and-fro combined with the tune to pull her small eyelids closed.

The song had belonged to Tokio's mother, a tune of whimsical animals and gentle spirits, of warm milk and soothing hands. After her song her mother would croon, "Dream well, koneko." Koneko meant kitten in the tongue of her ancestors in Japan, back when Japan was still a nation with one language and magic existed only in bedtime fairytales. "Let the waves of sleep take you. Sleep…" she would breathe, smelling of licorice-peppermint from the tea she loved to drink before going to bed.

"Licorice-peppermint isn't traditional," Tokio's father would tease, back when he was happy and whole and full of love. "Green tea certainly, black tea too, but licorice-peppermint?" he would shake his head in mock reproach. In reply Tokio's mother would just wave her hand in her usual 'what-do-you-know' gesture and dimple around the rim of her mug.

Tokio's last memory of her mother was of that bedtime ritual – a kiss on her cheek from slightly chapped lips, a whispered "koneko," and a waft of licorice-peppermint.

Chi'na's choppy breaths had finally eased into the susurrations of sleep, but the memories had drowned any impulse Tokio might have had to risk dreaming that night. Shifting to get a little more comfortable, her eyes and ears moved towards the fire. Echoing Chi'na's earlier choked breaths, the fire chugged at the air, slowly, quickly, puffing a rhythm that Tokio couldn't sooth, couldn't stop, couldn't keep, for ears cannot keep flames, nor eyes sparks, nor hands warmth. Fires always die.

Now Tokio remembered why she always avoided this room at night – the fire. Long experience had taught her that being alone with fire and her thoughts only caused her sorrow. But the grief of another child who had lost her parents to the sea, one with Tokio's same licorice hair and chocolate eyes, had distracted her. It surfaced memories she preferred not to visit. Despite the warm feelings that the flood of those memories brought, Tokio hated the pain of knowing that they would never again be more than just that – memories.

Odd, that fire was what reminded her of her mother's death – the currents of flames and logs assuming the form of limbs entangled with tendrils of sleek hair and seaweed. The quick sparks twinkling like tears over a golden-brown iris enlarged by sunlight.

Her mother had loved history, especially the mythology of foreign cultures. She had once told Tokio of Iris, the Greek Goddess of rainbows and messages. Sometimes at night, Tokio imagined that she saw Iris's colors in the fire's flickering hues, and wondered if her vibrant song extended to liquid lights as well. Did rainbows exist in the deep, as she sometimes dreamed on gray nights?

_Do you hear Iris Mother? Do you receive my messages in the glow of phosphorescent jelly fish?_

"I love you, Mother," Tokio whispered to the flames.

"Miss Takagi?" a groggy voice competed with the echoes of the fire, forcing her lungs to draw in a deep breath.

She realized that she had been squeezing Chi'na too tightly. Relaxing, she smoothed wisps of hair out of the heart-shaped face and cuddled her more gently in her lap. "Shh, koneko, go back to sleep. I've got you, warm and safe. Shhh…."

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Condensing moisture from the thick fog dripped off the wind-rustled leaves, sending icy trickles of moisture down Hajime Saitou's neck where he crouched in the branches of an oak tree. Years of training could keep his body from flinching, but it couldn't keep the sour frown from twisting his lips. The dense fog had saturated his clothing hours ago. He'd gotten used to the clammy dampness of the fabric, but each icy trickle from above was an unpredictable nuisance.

What he wouldn't give for a cigarette right now.

For several hours he'd been waiting still and silent above the forest pool. The moonlight glanced off the foggy dew on the ground and highlighted the large tracks, two clawed feet and a smooth hand, glistening silver in the mist. At least a quarter of a meter long, those tracks were his reason for waiting. Unfortunately for the people living in the surrounding towns, they didn't belong to any natural beast of the forest.

Rather, they belonged to a magic-spawned monstrosity. Locked doors, vigilant guards, and skilled huntsman had proved to be completely inadequate protection for a creature this vicious and cunning. A nocturnal hunter of keen intelligence, the monster went for small parties of travelers and isolated farmsteads.

Despite a month long killing spree, few people actually knew of its existence. The order to keep quiet had come from the capital. This had helped to keep the surrounding towns from mass panic, but also made finding the monster more difficult. People had been advised to increase their security, but beyond that the government refused to give out specifics.

Unfortunately, from what he'd been able to tell none of the victims had received a quick death. While the fourteen people killed so far had been fed from, nourishment didn't seem to be the creature's primary reason for slaughter. Some of the bodies only had a couple of bites missing, the rest of their blood and flesh scattered around the scene like moist confetti in some sort of macabre celebration. It seemed that the creature liked to break the limbs of its victims, rendering them immobile, before settling down for a few hours of skinning, evisceration, and torture. None of the heads showed any signs of being gagged, suggesting that the monster delighted in their screaming and had little fear of discovery.

Before Saitou was done it would know fear. Even if only for a split second before he destroyed it utterly. Justice would be served and evil eliminated.

While he had seen a lot of death during his young life, it had taken more control than he cared to admit to keep from vomiting at his first scene. For some reason the image of the dead woman's somehow pristine yellow hair ribbon holding her blood blackened hair away from a disturbingly mutilated face kept appearing each time he closed his eyes. It was only discipline that had allowed him to sleep the next day – discipline and the knowledge that he would be the hand of justice for that woman and the other victims.

Whether the creature had appeared because of wild magic or been released by someone with a malignant design, he didn't know. Others had the priority to find that out. His job for right now was to simply track the creature down and kill it before it slaughtered anyone else.

Sweeping his eyes around the fog-draped pool, he saw the second moon cresting over the trees. The extra light would make it easier to see the creature's approach, but it would also make it easier to be seen. There was little he could do about it now. He'd just have to trust that his high hiding spot was well concealed in the fog.

Saitou frowned. He hated trusting something as fickle as luck. Checking to ensure the clearing still looked empty, he began to softly chant. Soon his form blurred into the bark of the tree. When nothing stirred, he whispered a few more words and made a complicated gesture towards his face. He felt a few seconds of burning pain as molecules rearranged. Then the pain subsided and his senses heightened. Across the clearing he heard the sharp _crack_ of opening wings breaking a dive, followed by the smell of a small rodent being eaten. In the split-second it had taken him to recognize the owl, his heartbeat had jumped and his adrenaline had surged.

His now enhanced vision examined the clearing again. The tracks below were from late this morning. After a fruitless search for a lair, he'd decided to gamble that the killer had holed up somewhere close by and would return for a drink of water before moving on. If he was wrong, it could mean another death this night. Just in case he had several patrols circling the area. However, he had little confidence that they would find it. He was too practical to hope.

A faint rustle reached his hyper-sensitive ears, snapping his eyes to the edge of the clearing below. He licked his lips in anticipation. It didn't sound like a bird. Keeping his breathing slow and shallow, he fingered the trigger of his rifle with one hand and the hilt of his sword with the other.

Many magic creatures had proven themselves impervious to bullets, but for a subset of that group bullets could do temporary damage. The short time required to regenerate a blown off limb had tipped the balance of battle in his favor more than once. The weapon he truly depended on, however, was his rune-etched nihontou. Imbued with eldritch fire, it sliced through flesh both earthly and enchanted.

Straining his eyes through the thickening fog, he was finally able to make out a large shadow stalking along the edge of the trees. When it stepped out of the shadows and into the yellowed moonlight, Saitou felt savage pleasure course through his body. He'd guessed right – the monster had returned.

Its two meter tall hunchbacked form seemed to be covered with glistening black scales that sucked in the light instead of reflecting it. The darkness was interrupted by splotches of paler white markings along its chest and flank. The shadows and fog kept him from identifying any coloration more specific. It paced towards the water on two clawed feet, occasionally bringing a knuckle down to add a burst of momentum and speed. Its path would bring it only a few meters away from his tree. Beneath a shallow forehead, bulbous eyes cautiously surveyed the foggy clearing.

Opening its wide-lipped mouth and flicking out its tongue, it tasted the air for other predators and for prey. Right now the faint breeze was in Saitou's favor. However, if the wind shifted he would loose any hope of a surprise attack. The moonlight glinting off its double row of shark-like teeth matched the broken-off teeth found still embedded in the flesh of its victims. With its scales and long tongue, the monster reminded him of a large black lizard - a malignant lizard that would soon be very dead.

Rolling silently onto the balls of his feet on the slick tree branch, Saitou carefully aimed his gun at the creature's head. Then, quietly releasing his breath, he squeezed down on the trigger, peppering its body with bullets. While the last bullet was still in the air he leapt down from his perch and drew his sword to deliver his gatotsu nishiki attack. At the same time he quickly thumbed on the safety, releasing the gun to swing behind him on its strap.

Whipping around lightning-quick, the Black Lizard intercepted his falling diagonal slash with a clawed hand that caused him to fly backwards. The bullets hadn't seemed to phase it at all; unfortunately it was one of those creatures impervious to earthly weapons. Saitou skidded back to land in a crouch and quickly assessed his options. Too caught up in the fight to feel fear, he sprang back up and slashed at its legs, attempting to hamstring it. Dodging Saitou's blade in a swirl of fog, the black lizard scuttled to the right.

In its moment of distraction Saitou fell into his gatotsu stance – leading with his right foot, he held the hilt of his nihontou in his left hand and poised his right above the tip of the blade. A second later the Black Lizard rushed him with its razor-sharp claws extended. Calculating the position of its four limbs, he deftly avoided their attack and stabbed hard into its chest, scoring a deep wound.

As it roared in pain and rage, Saitou saw something from the corner of his eye. A sharp blackness sped towards his face. Saitou's frantic twist wasn't enough to completely dodge the serrated tail that was, until now, hidden in the fog. While he avoided having his throat ripped out, the sharp tip still managed to shred his forehead. Growling, Saitou's head throbbed in pain as blood dripped into his eyes, obscuring his vision.

Throwing a backhanded slash at the Black Lizard's flank, he scored only a shallow slice. It was enough, however, to keep it from immediately advancing and tearing out his throat. Rolling to the edge of the pond, Saitou placed the water at his back and swiped a hand across his face to clear away the blood. Ruthlessly he suppressed his momentary panic. As a Mirror, hunter, and warrior of justice, he would not back down.

From the center of the clearing the Black Lizard, holding one hand to the chest-wound dribbling black blood, hissed at Saitou in rage.

Raising his sword, Saitou assumed his gatotsu stance again and advanced. The snarling monster raced to meet him. Black talons skittered against his blade and broke past, slicing across his chest. Ignoring the stinging pain, he continued pressing his attack.

Parrying its claws up and to the side, he released his right hand and aimed a vicious punch at the stab-wound on its chest. A screech of pain blasted Saitou's magic-heightened ears. He winced and stumbled back.

Despite the pain, its bulging eyes watched Saitou cunningly. It was planning something. Instinct made Saitou dodge left. The sharp tines of the Black Lizard's tail slashed through the space where he'd been standing only seconds before. Pivoting on his heels, Saitou brought his nihontou around and down, severing the lethally barbed tail from its body in a spray of blood. He was prepared this time for its shrill cry and didn't flinch.

It dodged his next slash and responded with a lighting-swift kick to his side. The force of the blow lifted him up and flung him across the clearing. Adrenalin allowed him to somewhat control his landing, but the fall had knocked the breath from his body. Resisting the deadly impulse to curl up on the ground, Saitou staggered to his feet. Sweat and blood matted his hair to the sides of his face. His entire body ached. Even so, he knew that showing weakness would mean death.

Flicking blood off the edge of his blade, Saitou smirked mockingly. Their eyes clashed across the clearing and the Black Lizard snarled. Then, in a move completely unexpected, it turned and swiftly ran off into the fog-shrouded forest.

Saitou swore viciously and swiped the blood out of his eyes. Forcing his pain down, he raced after the quickly disappearing shadow. Jumping over a fallen tree, he stumbled on a rock he hadn't seen. Blood once again blurred his vision. Growling, he grabbed a strip of cloth from a pouch at his waist and awkwardly tied it around his head while still running.

Away from the open clearing and reflective water of the pond, he felt like he was at the bottom of a lake trying to see through murky water. The only light to be found under the forest canopy at all was the sickly yellow glow emanating from the fog. Such light obscured more than it illuminated. Despite his best efforts, Saitou lost the black monstrosity between the fog threaded trees.

Although he hadn't seen any sign of the creature for several minutes, he refused to give up. Angrily he sheathed his nihontou. It was time to change his strategy. Stopping his loping run between the trees, he cocked his head and listened for any sound of the fleeing monster. Saitou knew sound echoed strangely in fog. Yet being unable to see much beyond the trunks of the nearest trees gave him no other option. He had to try his other senses.

Concentrating, he could make out the sound of muted crackling, as if something was walking through a clearing filled with fallen leaves. Turning in a circle, he did his best to pinpoint the sound. Then he loped silently towards it.

When he heard the sound getting louder he slowed down and palmed the hilt of his sword. The footsteps were coming down the animal track in his direction. Saitou hid himself against the trunk of a tree and waited. It sounded like the noise was still several minutes away.

Surprisingly, only a few seconds later Saitou saw the shape of a head appear out of the fog. Preparing to draw his sword, he noticed another head join the first. Bitter invectives welled up in his throat. Grinding his teeth in anger, the hunter released his fierce grip on his sword. Then he whistled to let the patrolmen know he was there. It wouldn't do to be mistaken for the black lizard in the dark fog and shot by his own men.

Wishing again that he had a cigarette, Saitou stepped out onto the trail. They would continue to search, but in his gut he knew they wouldn't find the black scaled creature again that night.

Bitterly he thought that it would not have the same problem finding a victim. He had let it get away, and that meant that as soon as the sun burned off the fog, his men would have to start scouring for fresh bodies.

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Tokio's heavy-lidded eyes opened wide in surprise when she heard the door creak open. The late hour combined with the warmth from the fire and the child in her arms had been successfully sucking her down into sleep, despite her earlier dark thoughts. Turning her head as far as she could without disturbing the sleeping child, she saw blue eyes and a fluff of brownish-black bangs peaking around the door frame. She could also see small fingers curled around the edge of the door. The rest of the child's body and identity remained hidden.

Smiling encouragingly, Tokio waited for the child to build up enough courage to enter the room. "Hello?"

Finally, the door creaked open enough to reveal the pale, drawn face of a small girl. One hand clutched the door while the other fiddled with the belt of the yellow robe she wore over her sleeping clothes.

"Miss Takagi, can I sit in here with you for a while?" the child asked in a subdued voice.

Tokio felt her brows draw together in concern. "Of course you can, sweetheart. Why don't you come and sit on the couch next to our chair," she invited, freeing an arm from Chi'na to rub the girl's shoulder when she crawled up and leaned against the couch's armrest.

"Kaoru, why did you wander all of the way up here? Won't your parents be worried about you?" she asked. Kaoru's parents were also teachers here and had their quarters one floor down.

Biting her lip, Kaoru looked down at her lap. "I didn't want to wake them up. I'm eight now and I don't want Tou-san to think I'm too weak to learn kendo," Kaoru explained.

Moving her hand in soothing circles along the side of Kaoru's tense back, Tokio had to shake her head at the girl. "Your father adores you. I'm sure that he would never think you are weak." Kaoru sighed, but seemed unconvinced.

"Do you want to tell me the problem? I'm a pretty good listener," Tokio offered as she adjusted the little girl sleeping on her lap.

Kaoru looked at her from the corner of her eye for a silent moment before coming to a decision. "I had a … nightmare."

"What about, koneko?" prompted Tokio gently after no more was forthcoming.

"Blood… there was a little boy and he was crying blood." After this confession, Kaoru's bottom lip started to quiver.

Tokio's heart started to ache. She never could stand the lip quiver. Putting her arms beneath the still sleeping Chi'na's back and legs, Tokio stood up and moved to the couch next to Kaoru.

"Oh koneko, that's terrible." Placing an arm around Kaoru's shoulders, Tokio gently drew her over until she was resting against her side. Chi'na's feet shifted over to rest on Kaoru's legs, but the other child didn't seem to mind.

"It was only a dream; you're safe now. Everything's going to be okay. Just sit here with Chi'na and me for a little while, alright? When you feel better we'll walk you back to your room. Okay?" consoled Tokio.

After a little shuddering sigh, Kaoru replied, "Okay," before snuggling closer into Tokio's side.

Cuddling the two girls lovingly to her chest, Tokio began to softly sing her mother's song, a melody of whimsical animals and gentle spirits.

On the far edge of the forest there stood a small yellow farmhouse. Still a few hours from dawn, the house was hidden from the light of the moons and stars by the drizzling fog. The few travelers who ever passed by the farm this early in the morning were used to hearing the chime of the wife's bell as she called her family in for breakfast and seeing the young son laughing delightedly as he helped his father feed the chickens.

That dark morning the dismal weather kept any chance travelers away. If it hadn't, they might have noticed something far different that day. They might have heard the chilling sound of masculine screams from a voice gone hoarse from hours of use.

And they might have seen the decapitated head of a small boy staring glassily from a doorway, his face marked with claw marks from eye to chin in a bloody parody of tear-tracts.

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TO BE CONTINUED

Dictionary:

Koneko – kitten

Nihontou – Japanese katana/sword, 26-30 inches long

Gatotsu Nishiki – (Fang Point Second Stance) Air to ground attack where the nihontou is thrust diagonally from above.

Gatotsu Ishiki – (Fang Point First Stance) Also called the Hiratsuki Gatotsu, the targets are the usually the chest, neck, shoulders, and head.

Gatotsu – (Fang Point) Not really a technique but more a way of standing and holding the Nihontou. Leading with the right foot, the stance itself is done by holding the blade by the hilt in the left hand, and poising the right hand above the tip of the blade. It can be refined for different situations.

Tou-san – father

Kendo – The Japanese martial art of fencing or swordsmanship

Thanks to the Kenshin site "Let it Burn" for information on Saitou's fighting techniques.

Thanks for sticking it out to the end, despite the darker aspects. **Please review** and tell me what you think!


	2. The Hare and the Toad

A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and its characters do not belong to me. Oh, the wicked things I'd do with them if they did.

AN: This chapter is a lot less dark than the last one. In it, I explain a little more about what's going on with this world.

**Edited** 05Jan06 thanks to my new beta, _KC Evans_

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_**Liquid Flame**_

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 2: The Hare and the Toad**

Several hours of chain smoking had made the air in Saitou's office hazy enough that the unpacked boxes shoved into the corners of the room blended almost seamlessly into the peeling brown paint on the walls. Stubbing out his latest cigarette into the overflowing ashtray without looking, he groped in the desk drawer by his knee for another pack.

Saitou had lost track of how many hours he'd been staring at the grisly pictures from the latest murder scene. They'd found the slaughtered family in their cheerful yellow farmhouse four days ago. No new victims had surfaced since then, but just because they hadn't been found didn't mean they didn't exist. He felt like he was missing some vital clue, something that would give him the edge to find what he'd dubbed the "Black Lizard," and wipe it off the face of the earth. Yet hours of comparing these pictures to the older murder scenes had failed to give him any new insights.

Both Saitou and his superiors were impatient at the lack of progress in the case. There were even rumblings that certain factions of the government were pushing to replace him. Supposedly a private agency with ties to several prominent politicians had some hot-shot prodigy that they wanted to send in. However, he wasn't at a dead end yet. He wouldn't disobey a direct order, but if politics pulled him off of this case he might have to do something potentially foolish and certainly violent.

Tonight would be his best chance at getting a break. The specific alignment of the moons meant that the magical creature would be vulnerable to earthly attacks. If he was lucky, he might even be able to take it down with ordinary bullets. Of course, he'd made sure to prepare a few spells as well. He wouldn't be caught without any good offensive magic like the last time. First, though, he had to figure out where it was holed up.

Pinned to the wall on his left was a large colored map of the surrounding area. Red pins, carefully numbered, marked where corpses had been found and orange pins marked potential sightings of the creature. Skirmishes, those few and far between, were marked in yellow. He knew that there was a pattern he wasn't seeing. For the hundredth time he tried to make sense of its movements, but his eyes chose that moment to stage a revolt and refuse to stay focused.

Closing his eyes, he pressed his palms into the sockets. He saw bright splotches of white and red appear in response to the pressure, but when he lifted his hands they felt better. Of course, his fingers had to accidentally brush against the healing gash on his forehead when he took his hands off. This replaced the ache behind his eyes with the ache on his forehead. Deciding a little fresh air might make him feel less irritated, he sighed and stood up with a lanky stretch.

As he opened his door, he noticed that the air pressure was pulling the pale haze out of his office in a quickly dissipating whirlpool of smoke. The relatively fresh air from the center of the building rapidly destroyed the fleeting pattern, but it lasted just long enough to spark Saitou's thoughts. Going back to the map, he began tracing his fingertips along from the first pin in a large corkscrew. His fingers moved hesitantly at first, but as a pattern emerged his hand sped up until he passed the last pin and slammed his palm onto the map. _There!_ Allowing for false sightings and skirmishes with patrols sending the creature out of its way, the Black Lizard seemed to be zeroing in on the westernmost edge of the valley.

Quickly grabbing a red pen, Saitou circled the area he considered the center of the monster's spiral. This was it, he could feel it. A hard smile edged his mouth at the thought of finally hunting this vicious killer down. The scarlet circle included several homes, a school, a slew of farms and factories, and several miles of forest. Still a large area, but with the number of men at his disposal he could set up a gradually tightening perimeter. The men who circled the settled areas could advance and drive the creature out into the open area in front of the forest where it would be easier to see. Such a strategy would also keep the creature away from civilians and prevent further casualties.

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice from his open doorway. "Mirror Saitou?"

It took a moment to pull himself out of planning that night's assault. "What is it?"

"I brought you some coffee, sir." Stepping into the room, the sandy-haired officer stopped by Saitou's side, "Here."

Grabbing the steaming drink, Saitou couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at the picture emblazoned on the side of the mug. It showed a grinning blond baby hugging a small black puppy dog. The other officer seemed to notice the picture at the same time Saitou did. A mortified vermillion flush flooded his face. Believing that no one could turn that red on purpose, Saitou decided that the officer was probably innocent.

However, Saitou wasn't naïve enough, or stupid enough, to believe that it was a silly accident. More likely it was an intentional slight by someone else in the department. Such pranks had been getting more and more frequent over the last week. Nonetheless, in honor of his good mood over his breakthrough, he decided to take pity on the man just this once. "Thank you…" he said dryly, limiting any further sour comments while waiting for the man's name and position.

"Officer Robinson, Sir."

"Thank you for the coffee, Robinson."

Saitou waited for the man to leave so he could go back to planning, but the officer seemed to have something else he wanted to say. Quickly tiring of the man's shuffling feet and clearing throat, Saitou decided to give him a prompt. "Was there something else, Robinson?"

"Well, um, I was just wondering if you'd gotten any leads yet." He finally asked. Perhaps fearing his question could be interpreted as criticism, he paused only momentarily before continuing. "I know you've only been here for a couple of weeks, but I was with the patrol that found the last murder scene and," he paused a moment to swallow, "I just want to know that it will be stopped. Being a Mirror and all, you're probably used to seeing things like that, but me-" He looked down at his feet as he admitted in a low voice, "I've never seen anything that bad. Blood everywhere and bits of torn flesh and that poor little boy-" when his voice broke unexpectedly, Robinson tried to disguise it by taking a sip his of coffee.

Turning to the map, Saitou gave the young officer a moment to compose himself by drinking his own coffee. It tasted awful, as expected. "Do you see this red circle here?" he finally asked.

"Yes, Sir."

"That's where the creature has been heading. All of his attacks are circling this area here. Tonight, we are going to set a trap and end this once and for all."

Officer Robinson's brown eyes lit up at this news and his drooping shoulders straightened. "Does anyone else know yet, sir?"

Giving a slight smile Saitou replied. "Actually, I only figured it out right before you came in. I was just about to go call a meeting to inform everyone of the change in tonight's patrol."

Whatever response Robinson might have given to that was drown out by a surge of noise from the front room. Individual words were hard to make out, but it sounded more excited than alarmed. Exchanging confused glances, they went to see what all the commotion was about. On the way past his desk, Saitou made sure to grab his sword and gun.

* * *

Clouds dappled the grassy field next to Aizu Academy, casting the many students lounging there into inconsistent shade. A mischievous zephyr tugged the clouds westward, along with dark blue uniform skirts, beribboned ponytails, and miscellaneous homework assignments. Basking in the bright yellow heat and mild breeze, most of the girls found it a pleasant change from the chill fog and rain that had characterized the previous week.

Chewing on the end of her pencil, Tokio smoothed down the paper of her sketch pad where it had flipped up at the breeze's urging. She had decided to take up drawing at the beginning of the week. One of her older students, Riri, had challenged Tokio to become more proficient after a disastrous geography lesson. Tokio was talented at many things, but when a classroom full of bright young girls couldn't tell the difference between the size and shape of her hand-drawn continent of Asia and island of New Japan, she had to face the truth.

"Miss Takagi, you need to draw the tree _exactly_ as you see it. You can't just draw a circle with toothpick legs!" exclaimed Riri as she examined Tokio's efforts. "Try to draw individual branches and the grain of the wood. See if that helps."

The advice was kindly meant, but to be perfectly honest it didn't help. At all. For the last thirty minutes, Tokio had already been trying to draw _exactly_ what she was seeing. Unfortunately, her eyes and her hands seemed to be speaking foreign languages. It was worse than the night the second moon appeared and The Sundering occurred.

Of course, The Sundering hadn't been easy either. In fact, it had been rather violent and rough. No one had understood why technology suddenly stopped working, and then started working again but only in fits and starts. It had taken decades to regain just a small fraction of the world's once great industrial capability. Not to mention how about seventy-five percent of the world's population had disappeared from their homes only to instantly reappear in far-flung foreign lands. Governments and societies were all but destroyed, forcing cultures to clash, mix, and finally meld.

But at least then, most people knew a little bit of English, thanks to the pervasiveness of American movies and businesses. Though to be fair, many non-industrial countries didn't teach English as a second language in their schools. Still, history had proved that there were enough countries that did teach English at that time to make it the new universal language. It had quickly become bastardized with the languages of the people making up the new cities and towns, of course. Yet her claim remained – the founders of New Japan were able to communicate with each other enough to form a new language and society. Her eyes and hands couldn't even communicate well enough to draw a tree.

Glancing at the sketchbook of the vivaciously drawing red-head sitting only a few feet away, Tokio tried not to feel jealous. Seemingly effortlessly, Riri had penciled not only a perfect replica of the tree, but also the group of girls lounging beneath its branches talking. In Riri's tree, a curious raven holding a scrap of food in its mouth peered down at the people below its perch. The raven looked so lifelike that it could have flown from the page, yet Tokio knew there hadn't been a raven in that tree the entire time they'd been sketching. After all, she'd spent more time squinting into its branches than actually drawing.

Sighing, she added a few lines of bark between her tree's 'toothpick legs,' but her heart really wasn't in it. Riri must have finally noticed and taken pity, because she closed her sketchbook and stretched. "Why don't we go sit under the tree with An and Jin and you can get a closer look at the bark," she suggested.

Standing up with alacrity, Tokio grabbed her art supplies. "Excellent idea. I'm sure a shift of perspective is just what I need to get my creativity going." Besides which, the Chinese twins were sure to distract Riri with their chatter and allow her to escape the rest of the drawing lesson.

When Riri and Tokio circled the tree to sit down by the sisters, they noticed two more people that had been hidden by the wide trunk. Tokio was surprised to see young Kaoru sitting on the green grass with her skirt rucked up above her skinned knees. Her back was braced against the body of Junko, a senior student of Aizu Academy and one of Tokio's secret favorites. Junko was sitting up on her knees braiding flowers and leaves into Kaoru's long brown-black hair. While her first feelings upon seeing Junko were usually affection, this time Tokio felt a rush of concern. She didn't see Chi'na anywhere.

Junko was supposed to be Chi'na's 'big sister' for the week, watching out for the new child and making sure she fit in to her new life at Aizu. Usually, Junko was one of the kindest and most dependable girls in the school. Upon thinking about Junko's reliability, Tokio tramped down on her worry. There had to be a good explanation.

"Good afternoon, girls. I hope you don't mind if we join you?" hailed Riri. At the chorus of welcome, Riri and Tokio sat down and made themselves comfortable.

Almost immediately, Riri flipped open her sketchbook to a blank page and started drawing. Hopefully, she wouldn't notice that Tokio hadn't done the same.

"So, Junko," Tokio began, "where has Chi'na disappeared to?" At her question, all of the girls but Riri exchanged glances and started laughing.

"It's a secret!" Kaoru yelled. She looked quite comical, bouncing where she sat and yet trying to keep her head still so as not to dislodge Junko's careful placement of flowers.

"You have to guess," said An from where she lay on her stomach on the grass with her feet swinging in the air.

"Yes, guess," confirmed her sister, Jin, with a giggle.

"Is she with some of the other young girls playing?" Tokio queried.

"No," they replied.

"What about up in a tree?" she guessed next, but Jin shook her head. "Or did she fly off to visit the rabbit in the moon?"

An sat up and smoothed down her skirt. "No, and she isn't with the toad either, so don't even think about saying it."

"She isn't off ogling the boys in the fields, I hope."

"Miss Takagi, she's way too young for that!" exclaimed Junko with a faint blush. Chi'na might be too young, but Junko certainly wasn't.

"If she isn't sneaking food from the kitchen, I might just have to give up in despair," Tokio mock-sighed.

Suddenly, a familiar head with two licorice braids poked out from behind Junko's shoulders. "Here I am!" announced Chi'na with a delighted laugh. "I was here the whole time," she shouted with large, circular arm gestures. "I was makin' Junko's hair super princess pretty, but she's so big you couldn't see me behind her. I kept quiet and hid good so you'd be surprised. You were, weren't ya?"

Making a face of exaggerated surprise, Tokio dramatically admitted, "I was totally fooled!" Chi'na let out another peal of delighted laughter, followed closely by the chuckles of the other girls.

As the conversation moved on to classes, assignments, and the evil test coming up in Pre-Sundering European Lit, Tokio leaned her back up against the wide trunk of the tree. If Riri asked, she could always claim that she was learning how to draw the tree through osmosis. Of course, if she said that she'd probably have to explain to the younger girls just what osmosis was. Being a fan of object lessons, Tokio would probably try to use the tree as an example, and then end up having to explain capillary action too. She should just save herself the trouble and think up another excuse.

Out of nowhere, Junko suddenly slapped a hand to her mouth in horror. "I'm so awful!" she groaned. "Riri, you haven't been introduced to Chi'na yet, have you?"

Putting her pencil down, Riri replied. "No, but since this cutie has the only name and face I didn't know, I assumed she was the one Miss Takagi was referring to." Leaning sideways to get a better view of Chi'na's suddenly shy face, the red-head grinned companionably. "Hi, I'm Lily. No one in New Japan can pronounce my name right except my parents, so you can just call me Riri like everyone else. You'd think that people here would have figured out the whole 'l' versus 'r' thing since most of us use English nowadays, but go figure." She let out a world weary sigh and rolled her eyes. "I guess to some people, Engrish will always be Engrish – and they intend to make everyone else speak that way too."

Chi'na shyly smiled back. "Um, you can call me Chi'na. I don't have another name. I knew a boy once who called me 'teeny cheeny,' but I didn't like that."

"Well, I'll just have to call you Chi'na then, which is a perfectly lovely name," affirmed Riri, and blew the little girl a kiss.

Lounging back down onto the grass, Riri resumed sketching. Tokio followed Riri's gaze as it flipped between her paper and the large silver moon fully visible in the eastern sky. For some reason, Tokio loved those rare times when the moon appeared during the daylight. It always filled her mind with euphoria and sparked her imagination. If only it could also spark her drawing talent. It looked like Riri was in the process of penciling in another perfect tree.

Unintentionally showing off, Riri picked up the thread of her conversation with Junko without slowing her pencil down at all. "So Junko, are the rumors we've been hearing true? Are they really going to try and get that old video equipment working tonight?"

Junko smiled excitedly, "I think they are. The last time the Toad was hiding and the Rabbit was full, we all got to watch that old video about _The Genji Monogatari,_ remember?"

At her words, An let out a dreamy sigh. "Oh, I remember that. Genji was so elegant."

"Well, if the equipment works," Junko explained, "I think we are going to watch a movie based on one of the books in Pre-Sundering European Lit. It is our turn after all, since all of the movie nights before _The Genji _were history and science."

The speculation brought Riri's eyes up from her sketch. "I know I wouldn't mind the extra review for our test. If we watch _Candide_, do you think they'll actually show the old woman's you-know-what getting chopped off and eaten?"

"Riri, that's gross! Besides, there are little ears here, so watch what you say," Junko scolded. "I hope we watch _Pride and Prejudice_. I really like Jane and Elizabeth."

"Oh fine, I'll behave," pouted Riri. "But I know your real motives. You just want to drool over Mr. Darcy, don't try and hide it," she teased.

A light blush graced Junko's cheeks. "Well, we won't know what movie it is until tonight when the Toad fades."

While they'd been talking, Kaoru's eyes had fallen to half-mast in response to Junko's gentle finger combing of her hair. "Can I come even though I'm not in the class?" she asked drowsily.

Kissing the top of Kaoru's head, Junko smiled affectionately, "I don't see why not."

"You jerks, stop talking about it," grunted An as she stood up and planted her fists on her hips. "Me and Jin aren't going to be here for it, remember? We have that nature campout tonight."

"Don't make it sound like the end of the world," Tokio interjected dryly. "I'm going to be there too, remember?"

The Chinese girl just cast Tokio a sour look. "We'll probably be killed by some forest monster."

Her sister Jin turned and smiled encouragingly. "It'll be fun, An. Don't be a grouch. We'll have a big campfire and sleep in tents! With the full Hare, no Toad, and the protection of the treaty, I'm sure we'll be safe."

Coming out from behind Junko, Chi'na plopped herself down next to the tree and leaned her head against Tokio's arm. "What treaty? And I haven't seen any hares or toads yet. Does the school keep pets? Can I have one?"

An clutched her hands to her chest and groaned as if she was dying. "How can you not know about the Hare and the Toad? You poor, ignorant child." Walking over to Chi'na, she patted her condescendingly on the head, "Let Auntie An explain it to you."

"An," Tokio said warningly, "be nice."

"I am, I am," she assured her teacher. "Now, since my grandmother was Chinese, and Jin's too of course, I am the best person to explain this to you. You know that before The Sundering, there was only one moon in the sky, right?" Seeing Chi'na's nod, she continued. "Well, back then there was an ancient Chinese myth that the moon was made of water, and either a hare or a toad lived in the center. When a second moon appeared in the sky, one that was green instead of white, people remembered that story. They said that the toad had jumped over to the new moon so he wouldn't have to share with the hare anymore. Pretty soon, everyone called the old silver moon the Hare and the new green moon the Toad. See?"

The little girl curled at Tokio's side scrunched her face up in concentration. "Okay, I see. So there aren't really animals here, those are just the names of the moons. But I still don't get it. How does no Toad make you safe, and what is the treaty?"

"Well," began An, but she was interrupted by her sister.

"It's my turn. Don't hog all the attention." Clasping her hands in her lap, Jin spoke over her twin. "You see, when magic came, machines and technology stopped working very well. After a few years, people noticed that when the cycle of the moons caused the Toad to disappear and the Hare to be full, most machines would work again for a day or two. All of the new magic creatures are weaker during this time too. That means if there are any scary magical creatures in the forest, they will be too weak to attack tonight." Her explanation was probably a bit more complicated than Chi'na needed, but luckily the girl seemed to be following along. Her chocolate syrup eyes were still bright and inquisitive.

"As for the treaty, I guess you don't know about it because you just moved here, right?" Tokio hoped Jin wouldn't bring up the death of Chi'na's parents. That would be sure to ruin the good mood the little girl seemed to be in.

"Well, wild magic threads through the woods and streams surrounding this valley, and even the ocean over there too. The people here, though, are all very careful to treat anything magical they come across with respect. The magical creatures in the forest don't harm us as long as we leave them alone, and they keep any truly evil creatures from setting up residence. That's the treaty. We even have a system of 'tithes' set up, though we call them good will offerings. People leave baskets of goods by piles of green stones in the forest, and in return the magical creatures leave fruits, vegetables, and stray children or animals at the forest edge. So long as you're respectful and make sure not to offend them, you have nothing to worry about."

Casting an exasperated look at An, Jin continued, "That's why we'll be perfectly safe camping out tonight."

An flopped down onto the ground dramatically, "Oh, all right. I guess Miss Takagi and Miss Yamamoto know how to defend us anyway. After all, the teachers do have those lessons every week with Kaoru's dad."

A burst of laughter from Riri drew everyone's attention. "Sorry," she chuckled, "but I was just remembering what Kamiya-Sensei said after the last lesson at the firing range. I heard that he advised the other teachers to never stand in front of Miss Takagi if she has a gun in her hand."

"Because she's that good?" asked An.

"No, because she's that-"

"I am sitting right here, remember," Tokio interrupted indignantly.

Coughing into her hand, Riri tried to disguise her laughter. "Right, sorry. Well, I think the creatures in the forest are all afraid of Miss Yamamoto anyway, so you should have no problems."

"Yeah, I bet she could take down a bear with her bare hands," said Kaoru in a reverent voice.

The sudden tolling of the school bell echoed across the field, reminding everyone that it was time to come in for dinner. Gathering up their things, knots of blue uniformed girls began streaming back into the school.

Tokio took one last look at the tree branches rustling over her head in the breeze before standing up and stretching. "Come on girls, time to go inside and eat dinner. Besides, I still have to get some things ready for tonight's campout. It should be a lot of fun."

* * *

When Saitou and Robinson cleared Saitou's doorway, they saw that the outer room was full of uniformed men. Everyone's attention seemed to be focused on someone in the middle of the room. Walking around to the in the main aisle running between the forest of desks, the only space clear of evidence boxes and coffee stained folders, Saitou saw the face of the man causing all of the commotion.

Warlock Gaurav, a sienna skinned man in his early twenties, stood posed with his hands on his hips. He had only been working with the police for a few months, ever since his predecessor had left to return home to an ailing mother. Although relatively new, Saitou had been told that it hadn't taken him very long at all to become popular with the men.

When they had first met a couple of weeks ago, it had been hate at first sight. The warlock had been the one to ask a cousin in the government for information about Saitou. Despite Saitou's profile being supposedly restricted, Gaurav had come in three days after their first meeting and flashed a report with his name on it. Less than fifteen minutes later, the entire station knew that 'the great Mirror sent to save them all' was barely 17 years old. _Bastard_.

Now Gaurav stood in the center of the room with a supremely self-satisfied smile twisting his lips. It made Saitou's stomach turn. He felt instantly suspicious.

When their eyes met, the man's chest puffed out even more. "Good afternoon, Mirror Saitou," he greeted mockingly. "I've discovered where your Black Lizard is hiding."

"Way to go, Gaurav!" one of the officers called out.

Saitou kept his expression bland through force of will. "Do tell, Warlock."

The room quieted down as they awaited his reply. "It's holed up near the edge of the western forest, down by the farms and Aizu Academy." Officer Robinson shot Saitou a startled look. "I used a little bit of necromancy to get one of the victims it had digested to track its hiding place down."

"What?" asked Saitou in a low, angry voice. He made no attempt to disguise his displeasure.

Heaving a put-upon sigh, Warlock Gaurav said, "If you get out a map I can show you where it is. The spell was really quite simple. Not nearly as difficult as I'd been led to believe."

"While I am on this case, you will not use necromancy again, do you understand?" commanded Saitou in a soft voice.

"What do you mean? It got results, didn't it?" argued Gaurav insolently.

Saitou growled. "It is evil and I forbid it." A space cleared around the two men. It seemed that the confrontation that had been building for weeks had finally arrived. Unfortunately, Saitou noticed that more officers seemed to be standing on Gaurav's side of the room.

Warlock Gaurav seemed to notice it too, because he looked around smugly before walking up until he was right in Saitou's face. "You're just a kid, so you might not understand how things work around here. I know you're supposed to be a monster," Gaurav made exaggerated quotation marks with his fingers, "expert, but it wouldn't hurt to try and learn a little from people older and wise-"

During the warlock's speech, Saitou had been lighting up a cigarette he'd found on a nearby desk. After a long inhalation of nicotine, he decided that it was time to act. Taking a small step to the side, Saitou smoothly sucker-punched the warlock in the stomach with his free hand. Stopped mid-word, Gaurav forcibly doubled over with a gasp. Effortlessly, Saitou swept the man's legs out from under him and sent him sprawling onto the floor. A sharp nudge with his booted foot rolled Gaurav onto his back. Then Saitou put one foot on the warlock's chest and stepped down. Hard. Saitou heard an angry voice cry out, "Mirror Saitou, he can't breathe!" The upset voices of other officers quickly joined in.

Despite this, Saitou calmly ignored the comments while he took another drag on his cigarette. Then, casting a piercing gaze around the room, he began to speak. "Let me put this in terms that even simpletons like you will understand. Aku. Soku. Zan. We are the hunters. We hunt evil down and destroy it. Swiftly and utterly."

Pausing to gauge the impact of his words on his audience, he took another draw of his cigarette and decreased the pressure of his foot, allowing the warlock to breathe. "Necromancy is evil. Almost all spirits used in necromancy are damaged by the spellcaster, especially a novice like this, and turn into wraiths." The man below Saitou's heel let out a groan, almost as if he was trying to find the breath to defend himself.

Frowning coolly, Saitou stepped back on the warlock viciously. "If this imbecile didn't have shit for brains, he would have known this. Wraiths kill innocent people."

One man near the front of the crowd dropped his pen, but at Saitou's irritated glare froze him in place. "Also, idiots who use necromancy give off a corrupt magical aura. This aura attracts demons and other malicious magical creatures. These creatures kill innocent people." By this point the only sound in the room was the frantic gasping of the suffocating warlock.

"When innocent people get killed because your mistakes, I have to come down from doing something important to destroy your problem. Such incompetence makes me unhappy. You don't want me unhappy."

Tapping the ash of his cigarette onto the man wheezing beneath his foot, Saitou swept his gaze around the paralyzed room. "Don't question my orders again."

When no one so much as twitched, he allowed a small smirk to surface. "Prepare to hunt the creature tonight on the western side of town. It will be at its weakest with the absence of the Toad from the sky and the Hare at its fullest. The First Lieutenant can make the patrol assignments. We'll leave in an hour when the Captain gets back from his meeting with the Mayor." Finally stepping off of the nearly unconscious sorcerer, Saitou strode towards the room he'd been given as his office.

As soon as his back was turned the men started to move, as if released from the paralyzing spell of his actions and words. When Saitou disappeared into his office and closed the door, several men immediately went to their desks and began checking their weapons. The rest left the room, eager to get away from the menacing young Mirror.

Only the Second Lieutenant hesitantly approached the center of the room where the warlock huddled, breathing harshly on the grey and white tiled floor. He was in the process of crouching down to check for broken ribs when Saitou's door reopened. Immediately the Second Lieutenant froze in an awkward half-crouch with his arms partially extended. Fearfully, he turned to look at the smoking figure in the doorway.

"Lieutenant," Saitou drawled, "after you've helped that idiot, find out where he cast the spell. Then make sure a priest from the Order of the Lamb blesses him and the site. If you get the wrong type of priest it won't do any good, so no street corner charlatans."

When the Second Lieutenant just stared at him wide-eyed, Saitou let out a loud sigh of irritation. "Did you hear me, Lieutenant?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the Second Lieutenant finally replied, straightening up as much as he could while sitting on his heels.

"Good boy," Saitou said, despite being less than half the other man's age. Running one white-gloved hand through his bangs, Saitou swept the room quickly with his dark-eyed gaze. Finding the bustling of the men to his satisfaction, he returned to his desk.

Back in his office with the door once again closed, Saitou sat down in his chair and blew a long stream of smoke. Bringing the cigarette back to his mouth again, he noticed that his hand was shaking slightly with the adrenalin rush. Frowning, he glared at his hand until it steadied.

He was lucky that the men had backed down. For a moment there when he'd first pinned Gaurav, it could have gone the other way. Saitou understood that having a stranger come in, especially one that was younger than the majority of the men on the force, had to be difficult. Having said young stranger assume command from the Captain they were used to obeying would also foster resentment.

However, he was confident that they would deal with it. They weren't bad officers; they just weren't used to dealing with rogue magic. Too many of them, even the veterans, were making novice mistakes. Unfortunately, those mistakes were costing lives.

His methods might be harsh, but he had to establish complete authority now or else risk someone disobeying his orders at a crucial moment – and tonight was going to be crucial. They had to stop the creature now. There was no telling what harm it could do if it reached its goal. Especially if its goal was that girls school, the Aizu Academy.

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

_Dictionary_:

Aku. Soku. Zan. – The motto Saitou lives by. Most literally, "Kill those who are evil immediately," but more poetically translated as "Swift death to evil."

Genji Monogatari – _The Tale of Genji_ is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century. It is considered by most to be the first novel ever written.

Pride and Prejudice – Published in 1813, this novel by Jane Austen is one of the most popular in the English language. I love it! There are a ton of great film adaptations as well. In particular, I recommend the 1996 A&E version with Colin Firth. The BBC version is also very well done.

* * *

**Author Notes**: I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Whee! I hope you'll let me know whether things make sense or you feel confused. I'm trying to make a new world here and there are bound to be inconsistencies, so criticize away.

The story of the hare and the toad in the moon is a real Chinese myth.

Takagi Tokio and Saitou Hajime were real people, not just fictional characters. While this is a complete work of fiction based on the RK manga/anime, I will sometimes make a shout-out to history. For example, the real Tokio was an educator. However, she taught in Tokyo later on in her life, not in Aizu. Her early life was spent in Aizu as an attendant to the Daimyo's daughter, Teruhime. If you don't know anything about the real Tokio and Saitou, don't worry. It won't make a difference to understanding this story. I just got some inspiration from history. Also, because this is fiction, I have exercised my creative license to change a lot of things. Case in point, the ages are going to be very different. The real Tokio was two years younger than Saitou. In RK, Saitou was five and a half years older than Kenshin. In this story, don't expect ages to correspond at all to either history or RK.

Kenshin will be appearing in a couple of chapters. I plan on writing some romance with him and Kaoru later on, but Kaoru has to grow up first in this story. However, there will be a fateful childhood meeting. This story and its sequel will span 10 to 15 years.

**Thank you so much for reading this** **story**. I have a lot of wonderful ideas for where to go with these characters, so please keep reviewing and tell me your thoughts.

_Vashka_- Yay, my first review! And what a great review it was too, with all sorts of specifics. Thank you!

_KC Evans_- The chapters won't all be that dark, I promise. No nightmares from this one, though the next chapter will have a gory moment or two. However, Saitou and Tokio meet in that one, so it will be worth it.

_Carol_- Saitou and Tokio are going to meet next chapter, so make sure to come back!

_LadyWater_- I'm glad you didn't think that first chapter was too dark. This one is a lot lighter, but I hope it wasn't too abrupt of a mood change.

_Skenshingumi_- Thanks for telling me you liked the details. I hope to change your "possibly very interesting," to DEFINITELY interesting, even if it takes me several more chapters to do it.

_BakaAngel_- Please do guess what is going on. It makes me happy and lets me know how my characters are going to be perceived. I won't tell you just yet if you are right about Kaoru being a seer, but you'll find out for sure in a few chapters. Thanks for your comment on my other untitled fic. I'm trying to get the first chapter hammered out, and knowing someone cares helps a lot.

_Jasmine Reinier_- Ack, not the dreaded Marysue! I am trying my hardest to make Tokio realistic. I shall do my best to keep her from perfection and pouty, pretty-girl angst. However, a little angst is fun. Is the 'reinier' in your name from Mt. Reinier in Washington, by the way?

_Eli_- I read _Sabriel_ years ago, but I don't remember it very well except for the fact that I really liked it. I take your words as a huge compliment!

_sakuya-kaleido_- While this story will have horror in it, that won't be my main focus. It will have a lot of lighter moments in it as well, I promise. The pairing is Saitou/Tokio, with eventual Kaoru/Kenshin when she grows up. I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out where to start my other untitled fic, but knowing you are interested gives me incentive to try. Thanks!

**PLEASE REVIEW** and tell me what you liked, disliked, were confused about, or want to see. Thanks!


	3. Marshmallows

A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and its characters do not belong to me. Oh, the wicked things I'd do with them if they did.

AN: _Warning_ – This chapter gets **DARK** and VIOLENT. Also, in chapter 2 I changed the teacher who could wrestle a bear to Miss Yamamoto.

**Edited** 06Jan06 because of _KC Evans'_s help. Thank you!

* * *

_**Liquid Flame**_

By Indygodusk

* * *

**Chapter 3: Marshmallows**

Tromping up a dirt trail between cliffs veined with gray, tan, and chestnut, Tokio smiled contentedly. It had been too long since she'd been off of the school grounds. Muscles in her legs stretched as she propelled her body up and over a log crossing the path. The fallen tree retained a few stubborn patches of dark brown bark, but the majority of the golden wood was covered in swirling intricate tattoos carved by hungry insects.

Although the day had been warm, the leafy trees curling over their path threw a shawl of lacy shade over the hikers, keeping the golden evening sun from feeling glaringly hot. The circles and triangles of light streaking through the openings in the forest canopy highlighted each child's head with halos of copper and gold.

While her body was happily telling her it could keep on hiking for hours yet, the complaints of the girls hiking in front of her told a different story. Nevertheless, they were making better time than she had hoped. Since there were only two adult chaperones, Tokio had taken position in the back of the group to keep any stragglers from getting lost or losing heart.

After all of An's complaining earlier on that day, Tokio had expected An to end up keeping her company in the rear. Yet after fifteen minutes of sulking in the back, the Chinese girl had loudly sighed, "_Shikatta ga nai, naa_," and picked up her pace.

As if her verbal acknowledgement that it couldn't be helped had flipped a switch, An proceeded to throw her whole heart into the experience. Passing by her sister in the middle of the line happily chatting with a friend, An slapped Jin on the back and teased in a mixture of Chinese and English, "_Wei_, don't be a _chou_."

"I am not an ox!" cried Jin. "You're the _chou_ who's been plodding in the back, not me."

Without slowing her quick pace, An looked over her shoulder and called, "But who's in the back now?" Before Tokio knew it, An had claimed a position at the very front of the pack and thereafter refused to let it go.

It had momentarily startled Tokio to hear An speak first Japanese and then Chinese. Inside Aizu Academy, only English was allowed to be spoken unless there was a compelling academic reason. There were foreign languages taught at the academy, but they could only be spoken inside the classroom or out in the town. The principal was traditional and still strictly maintained a decades old governmental policy of English Only instruction. It was instigated after The Sundering to help cement English as the official language of New Japan.

While she understood the reasoning, Tokio sometimes regretted it. Walking through town, she would hear people casually throwing in phrases of Italian, Afrikaans, or Korean into their sentences that half a life at Aizu Academy had ill prepared her to understand. If not for her father's obsession with speaking Japanese in their home, she might have never learned the language beyond literary Japanese and random slang words.

When she was fourteen, she'd gone through a very short rebellious phase. During that period, she'd considered demanding an appointment with the matronly principal to point out a sentence she'd found in an old history book. The book claimed that English had the most borrowed foreign words of any language in the world. In her youthful imagination, she had pictured giving a passionate speech about the tradition of using foreign words. Her dream principal had humbly thanked her and decided to use the new knowledge as grounds to abolish the English Only rule. At the following celebration, the school had decided to name a holiday in Tokio's honor.

Of course, she had come to her senses before she had said anything. It would be disrespectful; she couldn't do something so confrontational and impolite to an elder. Besides which, it would probably be futile.

The principal was a stern woman who lived by her rulebook. There was an old Japanese proverb, "If you believe everything you read, better not read." As far as Tokio could tell, the principal had never heard that saying. She religiously read, and quoted, from the many books about laws, rules, and regulations crammed into her office as if they had been immutable since time began.

Now alone in the rear, Tokio distantly saw An jumping back-and-forth between Miss Yamamoto in the lead and the rest of the straggling students farther back. She had the bounding stride and swift energy of a gazelle, or at least what Tokio remembered of a gazelle from an African documentary she'd seen years ago. Her science class had borrowed the video from another school down the coast, and the image of the leaping gazelle's slender neck, curved horns, and lustrous brown eyes had haunted her dreams for days. For a while she'd imagined finding one in the forest and secretly keeping it as a pet.

If An was a gazelle, then Miss Yae Yamamoto was a lioness. Deceptively calm golden-brown eyes concealed a fierce spirit and wild audacity. Combined with rosebud lips, waist-length hair, and almost supernatural grace, more than one man had confused her with a geiko or courtesan and invited her to entertain at a private party. Her first refusal was always polite. If they persisted, her second refusal was always a fist – followed closely by knees, elbows, and feet. Only a stranger or someone suicidal would proposition Yae.

While a fearsome enemy, Yae was even fiercer as a friend. No one was more loyal, supportive, or protective. The girls at Aizu Academy all knew that Miss Yamamoto's door was always open, whether they needed a shoulder to cry on or another person for a game of tag. As for the men in town, they knew that if they offended a girl wearing a dark blue uniform they might find an angry Yae showing up at their doorstep or cornering them in a shadowy alley.

This campout had been Yae's idea, and as such she was in charge. Tokio considered how appropriate her own position was in the rear since she had come along as Yae's backup. The twelve girls strung between them like glass beads ranged in age from twelve to fourteen. A lot of the younger girls seemed to be struggling up the trail. Hopefully, Yae was listening to the groans of the girls and would pick a campsite soon.

When the bodies in front of her took a sharp right into the trees to scale a steep incline, Tokio assumed that their campsite had been reached. The muscular silhouette of Yae on the ridge above praising each girl as she reached the top only reinforced her conclusion. Tokio provided a helpful push to the rump of the exhausted girl in front of her who was trying to clamber up over the boulder impeding her progress. "You're almost there, Hinae! Miss Yamamoto and the girls are waiting for you at the top," she encouraged.

Backing up Tokio's words, Jin stood up on the ridge arching her hand above her eyes for shade so she could see the last of the climbers. "Ganbatte!" she cried out encouragingly. Hinae firmed her lips and grasped more firmly at the edge of the rock for balance, climbing up steadily.

"Good girl," praised Tokio.

At the top, Tokio saw Yae cup her hands around her mouth and call down, "Look at that speed! All of those boys in town are eating your dust!"

You never noticed until you'd left her presence that this larger than life woman was only average in height. Her long black hair had been tied back tightly in a braid that somehow managed to stay smooth despite their trek through the forest. The hairstyle clearly revealed the shiny silver hoops running down one of her earlobes. Against school regulations, she was only allowed to wear them off of school grounds. Yet despite being a teacher she refused to get rid of them, popping them in every time she so much as took one step outside of that boundary.

When they had first met, Tokio had introduced herself with all of the propriety drummed into her as a child. This included full name, titles, and expression of pleasure at making a new acquaintance. She had been taken aback when the girl had uttered a succinct, "Yae, just Yae," and stuck out her hand instead of bowing. For some reason, Yae refused to go by anything else all through school.

Of course, she'd been forced to change that when she'd become a teacher. Students couldn't call a teacher by their first name. Such familiarity would be inappropriate and against the rules. Despite years of friendship, it wasn't until the principal had officially welcomed Yae as a new staff member that Tokio learned her last name.

On that day, the principal stood in front of the assembled academy with military posture and announced, "We have a new staff member. Girls, I'm sure you'll all join me in welcoming Miss Ka-"

"Yamamoto," Yae spoke over the principle. Speaking softly but vehemently she said, "I refuse to use his-" Realizing that she had just interrupted the principal in front of the entire school, she cut off her own words. "They can call me Miss Yamamoto." The irate line of the principal's mouth after Yae's rude interjection boded ill for the new teacher. Tokio suspected that it had led to some sort of private punishment later on that day.

Nevertheless, Yae got what she wanted when the principal angrily cleared her throat and continued the ceremony. "Miss Yamamoto. Despite her being a former peer, I expect you all to treat her with the respect due to her position as a teacher at our prestigious Aizu Academy." She paused momentarily to glare out at the audience and Yae standing by her side. "You are all dismissed."

Curious about just what name the principal was going to say besides Yamamoto, Tokio finally found out over a year later. The truth came out during a secret party held to celebrate Tokio becoming a teacher herself. Somehow, they'd ended up playing Truth or Dare in the shadowy eaves of the midnight frosted forest.

That night beneath a crescent Hare and gibbous Toad, Yae had unusually balked at performing a dare. Considering that the person in charge of thinking up the dare on that turn hated Yae, and was known for being both creative and spiteful, Tokio couldn't entirely blame her. It was just so unusual for Yae to not take the chance to do something wild.

"You heard me the first time, Keri, truth," Yae said again into their shocked silence.

Keri snorted and tossed her pale hair haughtily behind her shoulders. Earlier that night, Yae had noted that the moonlight brought out Keri's wrinkles and turned her pale hair puke green. It had almost sparked a fistfight, except that Keri had backed down because she knew she would lose. Tokio loved Yae, but she had been tempted to question who had the higher maturity – Yae and Keri or the five year olds sleeping back inside the building.

Leaning back on her hands, an evil smirk formed on Keri's lips. "Fine, but remember that it was your choice. Since you aren't very smart, you've probably forgotten how this works. If you don't take a dare you have to answer with the _truth_. I don't know if gutter trash like you understands about honesty. Do you need me to go and get you a dictionary?" When Yae snarled and gave an abortive lunge, Keri twitched. However that was the only sign she gave of apprehension. Acting unaffected, she leaned forward and folded her arms casually.

"Very well," Keri paused and gave Yae a smile full of teeth. "I'm only teaching this year because I'm waiting for my husband to return from his trip overseas and the principal is his aunt. You, however, are here because your father doesn't want you. We all know that's why you always refused to use a last name. So come on, Yae _Yamamoto_," the malice in Keri's voice was thick and viscous, coating their once merry group with fearful anticipation. "Tell us his real name. The name the principal almost said in last year's assembly. The name you refuse to use, or perhaps," she faked a look of sympathy, "he refuses to let you use because he's ashamed of you." Narrowing her eyes in wicked amusement she demanded, "Tell us the truth!"

None of them were breathing, and even the owl and crickets they'd heard earlier on that night were silent. Yae stood up. In the silence, the violent emotions distorting Yae's face combined with the green tinged light to make her look like an oni or demon ravaging through the darkness.

"His name is Katsura, Kogorō Katsura," Yae finally spit out.

Keri choked. Her husband worked for a small subsidiary of the Katsura business empire. Finding out that the girl she'd always called trash was the daughter of one of the most powerful men in New Japan was a bitter pill to swallow. "You- your father is….""

"He's a complete bastard and I hate him. He exiled my mother out here a few years after he went into politics. We lived with her Yamamoto relatives until she passed away. When mother died _he_ barely even had time for the funeral. I hate him."

Tokio's heart ached for her friend. As Yae spoke, gusts of wind whipped dark strands of hair across her contemptuous expression. Yet beneath the anger, Tokio could see pain – a deep wound ripped open by Keri's malicious question and words. When a cloud blew across the moons, Yae's face disappeared into the darkness. Her raw emotion was no longer visible to the naked eye, but despite the night Tokio could still recognize it. She recognized it because it was the same pain she felt in her own heart. Tokio made it a personal policy to avoid strong emotions like hatred, but she had never managed to completely avoid pain.

Serene one moment and wild the next, Yae could be hard to read. As her good friend Tokio knew this. Nevertheless, it shamed her to think that she'd never known about Yae's unhappiness.

Although frequently at the center of trouble, Yae still managed to excel at her classes, especially those involving physical activity of any kind. Tokio had been surprised when she'd chosen to stay as a teacher after graduation, although she didn't doubt her qualifications.

After an exhaustive day of joint teaching, Tokio had finally managed to ask her why. Yae had given a bitter smile, looked her straight in the eye and replied, "Where else did I have to go? It's not like anyone wants me, remember?" Unspoken was the reminder that they were the same in that. "Besides, I don't know what else I'd like to do. There aren't any careers for a girl who likes to pick fights and incite other girls not to take an insult lying down." Her smile had turned more gamine and conspiratorial, "This way I can at least get paid to do one of those things, even if it's on the sly."

In Tokio's opinion, the Aizu Academy was lucky to have her. Yae had quickly become one of its most popular teachers. Even if you didn't listen to students gossiping, you could easily see a correlation in the way the number of tomboys increased with every year she taught. As long as the girls remembered their manners and knew how to act like a lady when the situation warranted it, Tokio didn't see this as a problem at all. Some of the older teachers, however, weren't so complacent. Their disapproval was probably another reason, in addition to her love of the outdoors, that Yae organized so many field trips and study sessions off of school grounds.

When Tokio finally reached the top, she received a quick, one-armed hug. "Tonight's going to be fun. Thanks for agreeing to come with me," Yae grinned infectiously.

Smiling back, Tokio replied, "How could I not, when you'd already told the principal I'd help chaperone?"

Letting out a loud laugh, Yae spun away and began supervising the putting up of the two large tents. Setting down her pack, Tokio conscripted the twins, An and Jin, to help her collect stones to set up a fire pit. Between the efficient directions of the two teachers, everything in camp was soon squared away.

After their unpacking, they all paused to watch the glorious sunset unweave scarlet and gold ribbons of light from the lavender and indigo sky of dusk. Then Tokio found herself and a cadre of girls searching the nearby woods for sticks. Not just any sticks, of course, but sticks dry, straight, and sturdy enough to hold a marshmallow or three over a brightly burning fire. She rejected four different sticks before she finally found one that she felt satisfied using.

Tokio wasn't sure just where or how Yae had come by the rare treat. Marshmallows were fiendishly difficult to find. If it was illegal, she'd get it out of her later. For now, however, the anticipation held her captive as much if not more than the younger girls. She loved the sweet taste and molten yet fluffy texture of roasted marshmallows.

When the canopy of trees finally proved too thick for the fading sunset, soft moonlight, and faint starlight to illuminate the forest floor, everyone trekked back to camp. After the dark woods, the excited girls greeted the sight of the dancing fire and open sky with cries of joy. Despite it being a mild night, the girls all crowded around the fire and held their fingers up to it as if they were frozen acolytes worshiping the blaze.

Although expected, Tokio still flinched when she first saw the flickering fire. Hopefully, the bright chatter of the children and the enjoyment of her sweet would distract her from any painful memories that might ambush. She was determined to have a good time tonight.

Before the roasting could commence, Yae ordered everyone to change into their nightclothes. Easily imagining girls going to sleep and getting marshmallow goo all over their bedding, Tokio tried to voice an objection. She didn't want to undermine Yae's authority, but eating in pajamas really wasn't common sense. Nevertheless, most of the girls had scattered to the tents by the time she finished her protest. The only person left was Yae, and she simply waved Tokio's words away.

"It'll be fine. Don't worry!"

That's how she soon found herself sitting cross-legged on the ground in her favorite gray sweat pants and extra-large blue sleeping shirt. Bracketed by An and Jin, Tokio waited for them to finish their ambush on her hair. When everyone had finished changing clothes, the twins had decided that everyone wearing pajamas had to have double braids before they could eat any marshmallows. The younger girls who were camping for the first time took this as gospel. Tokio worried that Hinae, with hair that only came down to her chin, would get left out and have her feelings hurt. Luckily the twins came to the rescue. Soon the young girl found herself sporting two messy nubs in her hair that might charitably be called braids, but only by a hyper girl in the woods at night.

Although she used to wear her hair in braids, Tokio had switched to the – in her mind at least – more mature bun years ago. Besides her single braid at night, she was no longer used to sporting any other hair style. It felt odd wearing the double braids now, like a return to childhood. Finally, the two girls tied off her braids simultaneously with a flourish and stepped back.

"Perfect," stated Jin judiciously.

"We are so good," boasted An. "Now on to the marshmallows!"

Glancing out over the drop-off and into the valley, Tokio thought she saw a bright burst of light like a momentary river of fire. However, it quickly disappeared, leaving her to wonder if she'd only imagined it. There weren't any houses where she'd seen the orange light, only open fields.

"Miss Takagi, come on! Miss Yae is opening up the marshmallows," cried a young voice. Deciding that she must have seen an afterimage of the fire she'd been staring at for so long while having her hair braided, Tokio shook her head briskly to clear it and went to get her treat.

Even though the campers had found enough marshmallow sticks for everyone, the fire just wasn't big enough to hold twelve roasting sticks at once. An's solution was to suggest that they build a bonfire. "Jin and I can build a big tepee out of logs taller than Miss Takagi!"

"An," Jin hissed, "I don't even know what a tepee is!"

Ignoring her sister, An kept talking. "Hinae and the rest of the girls can gather up the smaller sticks while the teachers dig a bigger fire-pit."

Each enthusiastic sentence came out louder and more dramatic than the last. "And after we eat we can paint our faces with mud! Then we can pretend to be savages and make headdresses out of grass and flowers and dance around the fire singing and chanting! We could even catch a rabbit in the forest and roast it over the bonfire to give to the forest spirits!"

Yae's eyes had lit up with an unholy gleam at the vibrant picture An painted with her words, but after a contemplative moment she shook her head in regretful negation. "No, a big bonfire isn't really safe to have in the woods at the end of the summer. A forest fire could start too easily. Besides, it would get too hot for us to easily roast anything except our own skins!"

Tokio sighed quietly to herself in relief at a disaster averted. Even if no one had gotten burned, attempting to get all of the children reasonably clean before returning to the academy would have been a daunting task. Leaving them dirty wouldn't have been an option. If they'd returned with the girls covered in war paint and ash, the principle would probably put an end to these fieldtrips forever. An would have to content herself with eating her sticky treat.

"However," Yae began.

Tokio's tension returned. Had Yae reconsidered? Would Tokio be spending tomorrow morning scrubbing little girls?

Yae's next words answered her questions. "Leaving a treat for the magical creatures is a good idea. I think we should place a few marshmallows by the trees in thanks for our safety. Who wants to help?"

All of the girls clamored to volunteer. Within no time at all, a bowl made out of yellow long-stemmed summer grasses held three white marshmallows. They set the bowl out upon a makeshift stone table just inside the tree-line. Made out of three muddy gray stones that An had insisted on digging up, the table tilted precariously.

When all was ready, Tokio took up the task of standing at the edge of the forest and saying a few words. "In honor of the treaty we thank you for our safety. We are grateful that you allow us to share in the bounty of your realm. Please accept this gift," Tokio intoned solemnly.

All of the girls then chorused, "Thank you, forest spirits."

Once the ceremony was completed, everyone raced for their sticks and the rest of the marshmallows. The children were eager to eat their treats.

As one of only two adults, Tokio had been forced to wait until last to roast her marshmallows. It had been hard to hide her salivating during the wait, but it made the crispy coating and gushing core all the sweeter when she was finally able to bite into her treat. Some girls were going back to roast seconds, but Tokio hadn't been willing to wait that long again. She had decided to roast all three of her allotted marshmallows at once. Unfortunately, this meant the last marshmallow wasn't quite as gooey.

Seeing an opening by the fire, Tokio snuck in and thrust her last, half-eaten marshmallow down low by the red-hot coals. In her eagerness, she placed it too close to the heat, catching it on fire. Quickly retracting her stick, careful not to burn any of the girls lounging around her, she moved a few feet back from the fire and blew out the flaming marshmallow. It looked black and crispy, but she knew from her limited but treasured experience that the inside would be a perfectly smooth white consistency.

If she hadn't moved so far back from the fire, she might not have noticed the crashing sounds of a large animal rushing through the trees. It sounded like it was heading straight for their camp. Anxiety quickly soured her stomach. Tokio wasn't wearing a weapon, but while in the forest Yae kept her gun strapped on at all times.

"Yae," she called out in warning, barely managing to keep her voice even. She was trying to think of what to say that wouldn't alarm the girls, but the decision was taken out of her hands.

A black monstrosity emerged abruptly out of the forest. Its pitch-black body seemed to suck all of the light and heat out of the previously cheerful clearing. The only things reflecting light were its large, bulbous eyes, sharp, menacing teeth, and the left half of its chest. It turned to face her, revealing that the glistening area on its torso was a ragged burn sluggishly bleeding black blood.

When their eyes met, Tokio's body jolted violently. She felt a painful tearing, like the creature was sucking her very soul out. Helpless, she was frozen down to her very marrow, and for a moment could hear nothing but the sound of her heart _not_ beating. Terrified at her body's unresponsiveness, Tokio screamed inside of her mind.

Sound came back with a sudden harsh bang. Sucking in a cleansing lungful of breath, she gratefully noticed the rapid thud of her heartbeat. The blast was a gunshot. Somehow, Yae had managed to quickly draw and fire. Tokio prayed that a weapon meant to scare off curious animals would be enough to wound the jet-black abomination. For a moment she thought her prayer had been granted. Its injured shoulder jerked back, twisting its body awkwardly towards the ground.

However, it recovered almost instantly. Then it refocused its pus-yellow eyes on its attacker. Bounding forward, wickedly curved claws slashed Yae across the chest, flinging her body across the clearing like a used rag.

Before she'd been hit, Yae had managed to get off two more shots. Despite bursting one of its vile yellow eyes and sending up a spray of viscous fluid, the monster didn't even slow down. Its only response was an eerie scream of rage.

While it had taken the girls a few moments to notice what was going on, the attack on Yae focused their attention. A cacophony of high pitched screams filled the clearing. Viciously, the black beast raced after its victim and sliced again into her already broken body. Tokio didn't know why it had gone after her friend's unmoving form. Maybe it wanted to make sure she was dead.

Whatever the case, it meant that Tokio was now standing between it and twelve screaming, vulnerable girls. Looking up from its cutting, it speared her with its one bulging eye, made all the more terrifying next to its bleeding, hollow twin. Inside her head, a small voice screamed at her to run, to dodge and let it catch one of the girls, to do whatever it took to survive.

For a split second, she wavered. Then it was rushing towards her and she had to decide _now_. But hearing those screams, she knew that the decision had already been made as she bent her knees, centered her weight, and adjusted the grip on her marshmallow stick. Jaws gaping wide as it bent over to lunge for her heart, Tokio swore she saw her terrified reflection in the glisten of its serrated teeth.

At less than a foot away, she could see burn marks and bullet holes riddling its chest, along with several round white nodules on its skin that reminded her of curdled milk. Allowing hours of training with Kamiya-Sensei to take over, she thrust forward her marshmallow stick with all of her might into its one remaining eyeball. As if in slow motion, she saw the blackened marshmallow near the tip of her stick gradually approach the monster's eye and then merge with its black pupil. The rest of the stick followed, and the globe burst in a monochrome spray that splattered onto her face. When the knuckles of her hand smacked into the gushing flesh, Tokio felt an answering sharp impact on her chest.

Darkness surged and then retreated from her vision and she found herself staring at a sky festooned with billions of stars. She couldn't breathe. Suddenly, the stars disappeared.

Above her head appeared the silhouette of a man holding a sword in his left hand. Idly, she noticed that he was wearing white gloves. When he raised the sword above her body in preparation to cut down, she felt no curiosity or fear, only bemusement that she could see orange and scarlet flames reflecting off his swiftly descending blade.

TO BE CONTINUED

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**Dictionary**

"Shikatta ga nai, naa." – _Japanese_, "Geeze, (I guess) it can't be helped!" (_naa_ or _na _often acts like _ne, _and expressesexclamatory feelings)

Wei – _Chinese_, wei is the word used to get someone's attention

Chou – _Chinese_, ox

Geiko – Female geisha (who can be male or female, as the 'sha' means person), a Japanese girl or woman who is trained to provide entertaining and lighthearted company, especially for a man or a group of men. (After living in Kyoto, I have to use correct terminology.)

Ganbatte! – 'Do your best!'

Oni – Demon or ogre

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**AN**: Since New Japan is a mishmash of cultures, I thought it appropriate to throw in more foreign words into everyday speech. If this seems too confusing or annoying, please let me know.

_Chinese question_ – I don't know how to tell the difference between Mandarin and Cantonese. Hopefully "wei" and "chou" belong to the same dialect, but if someone knows for sure I'd appreciate a heads up. The online dictionary I consulted wasn't clear.

Yae Yamamoto was a real person who knew Tokio in Aizu. However, her father was NOT Katsura. That is me utilizing my artistic license.

Battousai has elbowed his way into my plot line, so expect to see him sometime soon.

If anyone is willing to do some Beta work for me, drop me a line.

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**Reviews**: Thank you so much for reading!

_Sonflour_ – I'm really going to try to create a lot of tension between Saitou and Tokio. There will be a lot of obstacles in their way, just you wait and see.

_Andrina_ – I'm experimenting a lot with mood in this story. I generally don't go for creepy stories myself, so I decided to push myself by writing one. I'm glad I succeeded. Thank you for sticking with it!

_LadyWater_ – I'm interested to hear what you have to say about the mood in this chapter. You sound like you know what you are talking about when it comes to dark stories. While I want to have moments of darkness, I'm not trying to do a completely dark story.

_Vashka_ – You are so smart! The hotshot Saitou was thinking about was indeed Kenshin. What did you think of the showdown? It didn't happen at the academy like you expected, but it did happen.

_KC Evans_ - This one got a little gory again. I hope it was tolerable. I'm really happy you like my Saitou. If I make him too OOC in future chapters, please let me know.

_Carol_ – Good catch on the age thing. I won't answer now, but it will be coming up in the next few chapters.

_BakaAngel_ - Thank you for your approval of my Saitou! I'm also really glad to know that my explanations of this new world weren't boring. It is a big worry to me.

_Skenshingumi_ – As for Kenshin, it looks like he will be coming into play sooner than I had expected, so keep your eyes open. Thank you!

_Jasmine Reinier_ – Aw, your reviews are so fun to read. Yay!

_Reignashii_ – As my first reviewer for this chapter, you rock! I'm very excited that you like Saitou stories too!

**REVIEW o kaite kudasaimasen ka.** Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks!


	4. Not a Skylark, but a Warrior

A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and its characters do not belong to me. Oh, the wicked things I'd do with them if they did.

**AN**: The fight scene in chapter 1 along with the campout in chapter 3 was expanded on 06Jan06, so feel free to go back and check it out.

_KC Evans_ and _katyclismic_, my beta team duo, are grenades of grammar goodness! (If you only now figured out I'm weird… I'm flattered?)

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_**-Liquid Flame- **_

By Indygodusk

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**Chapter 4: Not a Skylark, but a Warrior**

_A few hours earlier…._

The sun tumbled into the western forest in a froth of scarlet and gold lace clouds. The scene reminded Saitou of a gaudy bordello. At least, that was the image he was trying to hold on to. Better that than seeing significance in the way the sunset bathed the western forest and nearby buildings in blood-red hues.

Saitou felt a razor-sharp anticipation at being able to finally corner the Black Lizard. One of the few things blighting his mood was the absence of Captain Tsang. He still hadn't returned from his meeting. A runner had been dispatched hours ago to inform the Mayor and the Captain of the planned attack. Their lack of reply was disconcerting.

As a newcomer, Saitou wanted Captain Tsang's input on the area and tonight's plan of attack. It would be nice to have his sharp mind and authoritative presence. After the afternoon's confrontation with Gaurav, Saitou counted on a change of attitude among the other police officers. Tonight of all nights they had better follow orders without the questions and disrespect. If Captain Tsang were here, Saitou would be able to focus on the real threat.

Saitou also needed to confirm that the Mayor had already sent his people out to warn the western neighborhoods of tonight's action. The last thing he needed was to be attacked by some irate housewife with a frying pan for invading her yard. It sometimes frustrated him how all information had to be filtered and approved by the proper government agencies first.

For every good man in the government there seemed to be at least three idiots. Saitou could force himself to stomach such idiots, but his superiors were well aware that he would not tolerate corrupt officials. His last demonstration of that fact was probably what landed him this assignment, so far away from the capital. Such people often had carefully cultivated powerful allies. Fortunately, they weren't powerful enough to get him cashiered or killed. Saitou had powerful allies of his own. Smirking, he made a mental note to write his mother. Her birthday was coming up soon. He could send her letter along with the letter informing the capital that this situation had been resolved.

In recent months he'd been hearing whispers about a possible rebellion forming against the government. Saitou hoped they stayed rumors. A war would only make things worse for New Japan and bring into power too many of the stupid and corrupt. If necessary, he would fight against it. His loyalty rested wholly with the government of New Japan. The government was what upheld justice in this magic-besieged land.

Teams of men had been sent ahead to scout out the western edge of town, place lookouts, and set ambushes. Saitou lounged against a light-pole and looked left down the empty road to the Mayor's office. Everything was ready. He couldn't wait any longer. Turning west he watched the sun disappear under the sky's skirt of red and gold lace, coming to rest between the knees of the foothills. _Definitely time to visit Aioi Tayu again. She's probably still mad that I missed visiting last week, but making up will be worth it._

Saitou rolled his shoulders to settle his gear and tossed his cigarette down. Grinding the ashes into the road, he ran his gloved hands over the small pouches attached to his belt and bandoleer in silent inventory. Ending with his hand on the hilt of his sword, Saitou blew out a breath.

"Gather up our squad, Robinson. The Captain will have to join up with us later."

"Yes, sir," Robinson replied. A shrill whistle gathered in the four other men that had been canvassing the area for traces of their quarry.

Although he tried not to show it, Saitou was pleased to have Robinson with him on this hunt. After their talk in his office, he'd found himself watching Robinson more carefully. He liked what he saw. The sandy-haired officer seemed competent and moved with a deadly grace few could match.

At first Saitou had been confused by the apparent respect offered to the young man. Throughout the afternoon he'd seen people stop by Robinson's desk to ask questions. Most of them were younger men, but a few of the older officers visited too. When Saitou went to get another cup of coffee First Lieutenant Valenti must have seen his quizzical glance, because he ambled over to talk.

For almost a minute, the man simply sipped his coffee while leaning next to Saitou on the counter. Saitou didn't want to reveal his ignorance of Robinson by asking outright, but he was growing impatient. He shifted his weight irritably. Finally the Lieutenant spoke, "His father is the Master of the Armory." Seeing Saitou's interest, he continued. "Kid learned to read using field manuals instead of school books. Officer Robinson's memorized and forgotten more about weapons than most of the men here ever learned in the first place."

Saitou frowned, "Why aren't they better trained?"

"They aren't badly trained for policing a city," the First Lieutenant defended. "It's just that the docks have their own guard, and the forest isn't dangerous because of the treaty – well, it wasn't until this mess started – so lots of the men here haven't had deal with anything that a badge and a small show of force won't solve." To Saitou, that explained a lot of questions he'd had about the men's performance to date.

"Right now, Master Robinson's busy back in the armory mustering up weapons for tonight, so those with questions go to his son instead."

"How good is he?" Saitou asked, watching Officer Robinson explain something while expertly stripping down a spear gun for the officer standing next to him.

"The son?" the First Lieutenant took another sip of steaming coffee while he thought.

"In a fight," confirmed Saitou.

"Officer Robinson can outshoot all but a few of the oldest veterans. I'm not ashamed to admit that he can even outshoot me. He also has no problem compensating when magic mucks up the works, almost seems to sense it coming."

"Is he a magic user?"

"No, Sir, wouldn't be just an officer if he was. He'd have been sent off for training if that were the case. Most figure it's just instinct."

"Hmm," Saitou's eyes narrowed in speculation.

"His blade-work and unarmed combat skills are also ranked excellent," the Lieutenant added. He looked like he wanted to add something more but was hesitating.

"But?" prompted Saitou.

The Lieutenant sighed. "Only problem is, he's spent so much time helping his father that he never got much of a chance to actually go outside and use those skills. He's always back in the armory. That or he's off training with the men. Despite being surrounded by fighters and weapons his entire life, he doesn't have much experience with uncontrolled violence. It's only been this past year he's been working the streets at all."

Saitou pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Do you trust him in the field?"

"He's still soft, emotion-wise and experience-wise," the Lieutenant said reluctantly. "I wish we had more time to-" he paused and chuckled softly under his breath. "Is there ever enough time?" He turned and looked Saitou in the eye. "He's young, but he's solid. I trust him."

Returning to the present, Saitou looked at the flamethrower strapped across Robinson's back. He expected Robinson to prove worthy of that trust. Saitou glanced one last time down the road Captain Tsang would most likely take from the Mayor's office. The only pedestrians were several young men laughing their way down the street. All of them were too short to be the Captain. He hid his sigh and turned resolutely west.

"We'll be searching the area northwest of the Aizu Academy. That includes three factories, about fifteen houses, and the open area extending out to the cordon of men in the forest," Saitou explained as they walked. "You all have descriptions of the creature. Any last questions?"

Robinson made brief eye contact with Saitou before looking away and wetting his lips nervously. "Could the Black Lizard be related to the lizard of Japanese myth? From your descriptions it does sound like a revengeful spirit with supernatural powers. Should we be worried about other legendary creatures showing up?"

Placing a hand on the hilt of his nihontou, Saitou answered. "From what I saw I doubt it. Every indication we have is that it's alone. As for it being part of a myth, it isn't really a lizard. I just thought that it just looked like one. But in the end, whether it is or not doesn't really matter. Despite the glare of the Toad my blade wounded it. Tonight only the Hare haunts the sky. The important thing is that it can be killed."

"What if it won't stay dead? They sometimes don't," questioned one of the other men darkly. The officer's name drifted just out of Saitou's reach. He was short and bald with a perpetually sour expression.

Before Saitou could answer a grizzled officer named Takaya spoke up. "Aw hell, James, you should know the answer to that. If it don't stay dead, we chop it into little pieces and get creative. Do you think Robinson brought along that flamethrower just for fun?"

The men chuckled, and Robinson looked up with a grin. "That isn't a fair question. On any other night the answer might be yes."

Seeing their eager faces made Saitou caution, "It moves fast. Search in pairs so it can't pick you off individually." Then he made eye contact with each of the men and didn't bother to hide his wolfish smirk. "Stay smart and remember who's hunting whom."

For partners, he paired up older veterans with younger, less experienced men. It didn't escape his notice that the most experienced man there was the youngest. By this time, everyone else better realize it too, he thought, because the next time he heard someone mutter 'only seventeen,' he was going to unsheathe his nihontou and to hell with the consequences.

Saitou partnered up with Robinson, who turnout out to be nineteen, and sent the other men off while they started their own search. While Robinson was reportedly one of the most lethal men on the force, he also had the least field experience in their little squad. It was safer for everyone to pair him with the Mirror.

Initially they searched in silence, punctuated only by occasional grunts or one syllable words as Saitou pointed at something and Robinson gestured in response. Occasionally Robinson would finger something in his jacket pocket. After the fifth or sixth repetition of this strange behavior, Saitou had had enough. But before he could irritably demand an explanation they were interrupted.

Two men stood at the end of the street and squinted at Saitou's face in the faint starlight. The Hare moon had yet to mount the sky. "Mirror Saitou?" questioned one of the men. The pair both wore white messenger armbands.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, glancing briefly at the sliver of silver moon rising from behind the mountain peaks like a slow-motion, monochrome volcanic eruption.

"Captain Tsang, sir. He's returned from his meeting and wants to speak to you. He said he'd be somewhere by the Aizu Academy, sir."

Saitou rubbed his forehead and glanced around. "Do you two have another assignment after this?"

"Um, no, sir. We were to report back to the Captain."

"Good. Finish searching this block first, and then tell James, Takaya," he paused for a moment to recall names, but Robinson slipped into the silence and answered.

"James, Takaya, Wong, and Mizuki."

"James, Takaya, Wong, and Mizuki where we've gone and to finish up searching this area."

"_Ossu_," the until-then-silent partner answered with a salute. When his friend elbowed him in an attempt to be discrete, the man coughed, stumbled sideways, and stuttered out in accented English, "I mean, yes, yes sir!"

Controlling the urge to roll his eyes, Saitou turned towards the academy and snapped over his shoulder, "Come on, Robinson."

As they strode quickly toward the school, they kept their eyes out for any sign of the monster. They passed several workmen who seemed to be hurrying home for dinner and a young couple heading back into town. Saitou frowned.

"Aren't they supposed to be safely inside behind barred doors?" asked Robinson hesitantly.

"They are. Maybe they decided to ignore the warning or didn't hear," Saitou offered quietly. He was tempted to go yell at them to get off the streets, but he had to talk to Captain Tsang first.

Robinson pulled something out of his pocket and rubbed it between his fingers. "As long as they stay out of the way and we catch your Black Lizard, it won't matter."

Perhaps it was the anticipation of the hunt, relief that Captain Tsang had finally shown up, or Robinson's friendly demeanor, but whatever the case, Saitou suddenly felt unusually loquacious. "I wouldn't call it _my_ Black Lizard, but I do plan on it being my kill."

Robinson laughed. "As long as it's dead tomorrow morning, I don't care who kills it. I just hope I get to use my flamethrower tonight." Robinson skipped a step to keep up with the taller Mirror's fast pace. "Did you know that they had flamethrowers as far back as 500 B.C.? Not like my pack of course, personal ones weren't invented until Pre-Sundering World War II. They thought that was a vicious war and they didn't even have magic then." Robinson shook his head pityingly.

Saitou glanced over at Robinson to silently prompt him to get to the point, if there was a point. He rather suspected the man was just babbling. "But those early flamethrowers, they worked just like blow guns. The warriors just blew into one end of the tube and propelled the burning stuff out at their enemies. Amazing!" Robinson enthused.

"Considering how stupid people are, most of them probably killed themselves by inhaling accidentally," commented Saitou dryly.

Robinson patted the stock of his flamethrower, undaunted by Saitou's cynicism. "If that was the only problem with this baby I'd be happy. But magic and the Toad moon mucks everything up. If it isn't a problem with the compressed gas, it's a problem with the batteries and the ignition system. Sometimes I have to use a lighter to ignite the fuel when it doesn't work, or even a match. You can char off fingernails that way-"

"Charming thought."

Robinson continued as if Saitou hadn't even spoken. "But in the end, it's usually worth it. This beauty can ignite an object over fifty yards away." He smiled down at his weapon like a proud papa.

"Sounds like a forest fire waiting to happen."

"Yep, but if the Black Lizard dies in the flames we can call the fire department later. Or maybe you know a good water spell?" Robinson asked.

"Not for an entire forest," Saitou said in a tone aimed at quelling any more such ideas.

"Oh, that reminds me, just a second." With that, Robinson turned ninety degrees and sprinted to the edge of the forest. Squatting down he placed something on a tree stump, bowed several times, and ran back.

"There are easier ways to go to the bathroom," mocked Saitou as he continued his quick pace.

"I wasn't- I was just," Robinson stuttered out before taking a deep breath. "I wanted to leave an offering to the forest spirits for our hunt, both the kami and the magical creatures. Our town has a treaty with the forest spirits you know. They protect us."

Saitou snorted. "They don't seem to be doing a very good job lately. Seems like a waste to me. You're probably better off not feeding them."

Shifting uneasily Robinson replied, "You shouldn't mock them. For all we know they have been protecting us as best they can. The number of victims could have been ten times greater." He rubbed the object in his jacket pocket again.

As he fell silent Saitou finally allowed himself to ask, "What is that you keep rubbing?"

"Oh," Robinson face darkened in what Saitou assumed in the moonlight to be a blush. Saitou's skin was just as fair, but luckily he'd never had a similar problem with redness. "It's my lucky hare's foot."

Robinson pulled out a small white bundle of fur that easily reflected the moonlight. It was about as long as Saitou's little finger. Curious, Saitou send out a tendril of power, but sensed nothing. To all intents and purposes it was exactly what Robinson had said – a hare's foot.

Never having heard of such a thing, Saitou prompted, "And it's lucky why?"

"A lucky rabbit's foot is an old western superstition. My grandfather gave me this one when I was little." Seeing Saitou's skeptical face, he expanded his explanation. "Both the Japanese and Chinese find rabbits an auspicious omen and the Hebrew associate it with intuition. Some Native American tribes call rabbits 'the giver of luck in the chase.' Plus it's like having a little bit of protection from the Hare moon with me all of the time." At each cultural reference, Saitou's eyebrows had crept higher in incredulity. The hand Robinson had been gesturing with dropped to his side and he coughed in embarrassment. "My grandfather's obsessed with world mythology."

Although the walls of the Academy had come into view, Saitou still took the time to scoff. "That's ridiculous. It's just a dead animal's foot. I sense no power."

Robinson's face remained blush-dark, but surprisingly his spine straightened and his lip curled into a small smile. "That's why it's called a superstition, Mirror Saitou." The young officer looked over and met Saitou's eyes. "It may sound foolish, but, like my grandfather, I believe it works. Nothing is hurt by having it and if it does help like I believe, it benefits not only me but everyone around me."

His calm rebuttal in the face of Saitou's scorn gained Robinson a small measure of Saitou's respect. However, Saitou didn't have to tell Robinson that. "You're an idiot to hold to something so irrational."

Something in Saitou's voice must have given him away, because Robinson's smile widened. "Would you like a lucky hare's foot, Mirror Saitou?"

An unwilling laugh escaped Saitou's lips. "What, you carry around extras?"

"Of course. A rabbit does have more than one foot, after all, and the police are always in need of more luck," rejoined Robinson with mock seriousness.

Spotting Captain Tsang's broad shoulders in the distance, Saitou dropped the subject. Jogging forward, he recognized First Lieutenant Valenti standing next to the Captain. They looked to be in deep conversation. Most likely the First Lieutenant was bringing the Captain up to speed on their plan of attack.

At their approach the Captain looked up and acknowledged them with a nod. He fired an order at First Lieutenant Valenti that sent him running off and turned toward them. Not a short man by any means, Saitou still had to look up to meet Captain Tsang's dark eyes. In sometimes startling contrast to his street brawler body, the Captain possessed a fine-boned, aristocratic face that would be more at home on a statesman. Tonight it was deeply lined with anger, stress, and what on any other man he would have called suppressed fear.

"Mirror Saitou," he acknowledged gruffly.

"Captain Tsang," Saitou replied with a slight incline of his head. Though technically the senior on this case, Saitou respected the Captain and wanted him to know it. "I expected you back hours ago. Was there a problem with the Mayor?" This close, Saitou could faintly smell expensive cologne and cigar smoke, a testament to the amount of time the Captain had spent closeted with the politicians.

They began walking as the Captain responded with a half-smile and flat eyes. Robinson trailed a few meters behind. "The Mayor wants us to know he supports our efforts to catch the Black Lizard."

Suspiciously, Saitou asked, "That took all day to convey?"

"No, that took about ten minutes. What took all day was arguing over his decision to not send out a warning for tonight's actions," he replied in a voice dripping with vitriol.

"What!" burst out Saitou. "Then the people in these houses and the school-"

"Have no idea what's going on," the Captain confirmed through gritted teeth. "I've ordered the Lieutenant to tell the men to warn any civilians they meet that we're here trying to corner a dangerous criminal, but that's the best I can do."

Growling, Saitou bit off a string of obscenities. "What about the school?"

"I delivered that warning personally." A cool breeze ruffled Saitou's hair and almost covered Captain Tsang's next sentence. It was whispered in a voice threaded with anguish, "My daughters go here." The Captain's eyes shut in a pained grimace.

Such a show of emotion on the face of this normally confident and collected man worried Saitou exceedingly. Scanning the shadows around the school's walls, Saitou gave the Captain a moment to pull himself together. From the corner of his eye he saw the man shake his head briskly. Then he placed his hand on the butt of his rifle.

In a steadier voice Captain Tsang continued, "The gatekeeper said he'd bar all the entrances and ring the bell if they had any trouble. However, a group of students are camping out in the woods and won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. He didn't know a specific location, only somewhere in the foothills."

Pausing, Captain Tsang checked his sword by drawing it out a few inches from the sheath before letting it slide back down with a hiss of steel against cured leather. "I can't spare enough men to search for them, and those I can spare won't be enough protection if the Black Lizard appears."

"So we make our stand here," Saitou confirmed. It was a difficult call to make. Although Saitou could have overruled the Captain, he didn't. Without more specific information he found himself in agreement with the decision.

"Captain!" interjected Robinson excitedly. "Look!"

Following his pointing finger, Saitou saw the four men from his squad slowly retreating backwards while emptying their guns into the shadow of a warehouse. One of the men, bald so it had to be the sour-faced James, had his arm slung over his partner's shoulder and seemed to be limping. The field echoed with the _pop-pop_ of their gunfire.

Captain Tsang, Saitou, and Robinson raced towards the battle. If they were only firing at a feral cat, Saitou would kill someone. Blood surged in his veins and he felt eager and alive.

Flicking his fingers through several complicated positions, the Mirror gestured at his face. "_Gokanzou_," he whisperedin a rumbling voice of power. Because the incantation only lasted about half an hour, Saitou waited to use it until the last possible moment. The stress it put on his body limited his use of the enchantment to three times a day. More than that and he risked permanent damage as mutated cells started to die. Some casters could only use it once a week. They were weaklings.

Saitou felt the surge of sweet pain as cells and molecules warped. Suddenly the world was _more_. He could smell fresh blood, dry grasses, and the sewer-like stench he recognized as the Black Lizard. Opening his mouth, he tasted gunpowder on the wind. The formerly impenetrable shadows sharpened into buildings, boxes, and running police officers.

Crouched behind a trashcan, the Black Lizard bared its serrated shark-like teeth in a vicious grimace. Saitou noticed the popcorn sound of bullets suddenly slow as James passed out from loss of blood and dropped his weapon. His partner, Mizuki, staggered in an attempt to support his deadweight, fumbling with his own weapon.

With the hail of bullets halved, the Black Lizard leaped from its concealment and bull-rushed its attackers. Gracefully it dodged through the remaining bullets. There was a beauty to its sinuously flowing form. It pissed Saitou off. As soon as he was in range he was going to tear that black bastard apart.

A ragged, high-pitched scream of rage escaped the Black Lizard as it got close enough to slash into the gunmen. The sound made the hair on Saitou's neck rise in atavistic aversion. Robinson's run faltered slightly, but Saitou heard his pace pick up again after that moment of weakness. _Good boy,_ he spared the time to think as he finally came within range.

He cocked his rifle and aimed, but the Black Lizard's victims were still struggling and obscuring his shot. Men were converging from out of every alleyway.

The monster tried to attack with its tail, but only a blunt stub remained. Saitou had cut the barbed end off in their last encounter. Instead of disemboweling its victim, the Black Lizard only succeeded in knocking Wong onto his back. Grim satisfaction twisted Saitou's lips, only to disappear as Mizuki's throat was viciously bitten into and ripped out. The Black Lizard dropped Mizuki's body and thrust its blood-flecked maw into the sky in a triumphant roar.

With a suddenly clear target, Saitou fired. His shot was closely echoed by Captain Tsang and others. The acrid tang of gunpowder seeped through the clearing and tingled in his hypersensitive nostrils. Staggering, the Black Lizard snarled like a grinding chainsaw.

Then in a move to put a professional ballet dancer to shame, it twirled in place with claws extended and decapitated the only one of the four still fighting. Saitou's enhanced senses gave him an all too clear picture of Takaya, the grizzled veteran who had teased the men earlier into laughing, dying in a geyser of copper-scented blood. Leaping back into the shadows of the factory, the Black Lizard disappeared.

Voices shouted as men frantically tried to target its flight. Despite its apparent retreat, Saitou had a feeling it would break for the woods. He resisted the urge to follow it into the narrow and twisting alleyways. Robinson turned on a flashlight to scour the shadows, but Saitou wanted his hands free. Instead he relied upon his enhanced senses.

A sudden **_CLANG_** of struck metal assaulted Saitou's ears with a bell-like tone. His stomach clenched as he turned to look at the school. Had the monster escaped behind its walls? Was it now gorging itself on the soft and vulnerable flesh of little girls?

The same thought must have occurred to Captain Tsang, because an enraged howl burst from his lips as he sprinted towards the sound. Instantly Saitou followed.

While he'd seen a lot of death in his life, almost all of those bodies had been adults. He'd learned to take most death as a matter of course. However, the three murdered children he'd investigated over the years were specters that still haunted his dreams. How would he deal with an entire school of small mutilated bodies? Some of the girls in there were his age.

_Focus!_ Saitou ordered himself harshly, clamping down on any further speculations. Only killing the monster mattered right now. _Worry about incidentals later._

As they rounded the corner of the academy, Saitou saw a man flying through the air. His body harshly smashed into the side of a metal dumpster and dropped boneless to the ground, landing partially on top of his partner. The man's impact against the dumpster had produced another metallic _**CLANG**._ The sound hadn't been the school's bell. Relief made Saitou's legs almost falter.

"There!" shouted Robinson. The Black Lizard raced across the field heading for the tree line. There was no way they would be able to catch up to it. Guns across the field fired, but the creature didn't even seem to slow.

A sudden click and soft roar presaged the priming of Robinson's flamethrower. The sweet smell of gas wafted to Saitou's nose. Yelling wordlessly, Robinson pulled the trigger. Bright golden flame shot out in a long streamer of roiling light. The fire barely caught the edge of the Black Lizard's leg. It yelped in pain, but put on an extra burst of speed.

"Dammit!" screamed Robinson.

Reaching into a pouch, Saitou ordered, "Keep firing!"

"It's out of range," Robinson protested, but didn't relax his trigger finger.

Chanting urgently, Saitou licked the shard of obsidian held between his fingertips. Roaring out, "KAZAN!" he thrust the volcanic shard and his fingers into the stream of liquid fire. The flamethrower snarled and the cone of fire exploded outwards in a blue-white beam bordered with gold.

The Black Lizard had half-turned towards them as it ripped a spear from its thigh. Boosted by Saitou's volcano spell, the flamethrower's reach doubled. Molten fire bit viciously into the monster's left side. Ink-black flesh bubbled and sloughed off. Writhing in an attempt to escape, the Black Lizard keened in pain. The jarring reverberation made Saitou's teeth throb painfully.

Without warning, the stream of fire ended. In the sudden darkness Saitou couldn't see. Blinking rapidly, his eyes finally adjusted to the moonlight.

On the ground at his feet, Robinson sprawled like a marionette with its strings cut. "Sorry," whispered Robinson through blistered lips, "fuel ran out."

Once his eyes adjusted, Saitou noticed Robinson's charred black hands and burned face. As the spell caster, Saitou had been protected from the extreme heat of his magic. Robinson had no such protection and had been forced to suffer. Despite the intense pain as his flesh blistered and burned, the young officer had continued firing. He had proved worthy of the First Lieutenant's trust, as well as Saitou's own.

"Good job, Robinson," Saitou praised gently. The boy's lips twitched into a slight smile as his eyes slipped closed. Saitou's heart clenched as he listened anxiously for Robinson's next breath. He could hear gunfire and screams, but the sound seemed distorted and distant.

"Breath, dammit!" snarled Saitou angrily, imbuing his words with magical power. Robinson twitched and inhaled harshly. Filmy eyes blinked open groggily and struggled to focus.

Scouring the field with his eyes, Saitou spotted what he hoped in the darkness was a red cross. "Medic!" he roared out. The man immediately trotted over.

"Injuries?" the medic asked briskly.

"Burns on the hands, face, and possibly torso," Saitou tersely replied. "He stopped breathing a minute ago."

Kneeling down, the man opened his bag and pulled out a syringe. "Right, I've got him. You better go finish it off, sir."

Growling out, "Stay alive, you idiot," Saitou raced off.

While he'd been distracted, the Black Lizard had managed to roll around and douse the flames on its body. Staggering to its feet, it began a shambling run into the forest. Although the Toad moon wasn't in the sky, conventional bullets still didn't seem to be hurting it very much. Its current lack of grace was a testament to the efficacy of Robinson's flamethrower. _If only we had some explosive-tipped rounds! _

Step-by-step the cordon of men came in from the trees in an attempt to surround and kill the Black Lizard once and for all. Captain Tsang plucked an eight foot long javelin from the hands of another officer and hurled it at the creature. Saitou's enhanced hearing picked up the whistle of the javelin's oscillation as it hurtled through the air, followed by a sodden thud as it pierced the Black Lizard's side. The creature was knocked down into the long yellow grass with a thump.

Several men drew swords and advanced in an attempt to finish it off. Before they could land a blow, the javelin was ripped out and shattered against their kneecaps. Bouncing back up clumsily, the Black Lizard lithely dodged a sword thrust and disappeared into the shadows of the forest.

Bypassing the moaning bodies, Saitou followed it into the trees. Behind him he could hear Captain Tsang reforming the men and sending them into the woods in pursuit. Following the scent of burning flesh, Saitou tracked the monster. Broken branches blazed a clear trail through the woods.

However, after fording a small stream Saitou found himself cursing. The moisture-laden air held scents too well. He couldn't tell which direction it had fled in the heavy air because the scent in both directions seemed equally strong. Searching the banks for signs of its passage, he was soon joined by the Captain and several squads of officers. They split up to look both up- and downstream.

Finally a shout of discovery rang out. After confirming that the tracks belonged to their quarry, the group began following a small animal trail heading northeast up into the foothills. Men raced up the trail in the dark, lit only by wavering flashlights, stars, and the full Hare moon. Saitou caught occasional glimpses of black scales in the distance until his _gokanzou_ ran out.

Momentarily disoriented, he didn't notice the tree limb strewn across the path until too late. His toe caught under the branch and catapulted his body forward. His momentum was such that he was flung off the path to roll and thud down the hillside. Finally sliding to a halt face-down in the dirt, Saitou could only clench his eyes shut in pain and try to catch his breath.

When he could finally stand he dusted himself off disgustedly. He couldn't believe he'd been so clumsy. If he didn't know better, he would swear that the trail had been clear until the split second before his foot came down.

Most likely no one had noticed his fall in the chaos of the hunt. By the time he climbed back up to the top of the hill everyone would most likely be long gone. An inventory of his possessions showed that his gun and several pouches were missing. At least he still had his sword. Touching the hilt of his nihontou calmed his thoughts.

Turning northeast, he made his way through the forest. It was tough going. He kept having to detour west around boulders and impassable tangles of brush. It was almost as if the forest was herding him somewhere. After fighting his way through a thick-growing grove, Saitou looked up and snarled silently. The trail he'd blazed dead ended at a cliff face. The top looked to be about thirty yards up.

Above his head he could hear birds trilling and the susurration of feathers in flight. It sounded like a nocturnal flock of migrating song birds, perhaps wrens or sparrows. Firming his lips, he looked up and began scaling the cliff, wedging his fingers and toes into moss-encrusted ledges and cracks. It was slow going as he tried to pick the most stable hand-holds in the shadowed rock. Several times he had to scrape off slick vegetation before trusting the notch to hold his grip. Finally after about thirty minutes of climbing, he pulled himself over the top with a guttural grunt.

Rolling into a crouch he surveyed his surroundings. In the distance, he saw a light twinkling through the leaves. Silently he climbed a nearby tree and balanced himself on a stout branch. Sticky sap crusted his white gloves. From his vantage point, the light looked like a fire, not a flashlight carried by one of the policemen.

Casting _gokanzou_ for the second time that night, he waited impatiently for the pain to pass. The sharp scent of sap and the sound of migrating larks became momentarily overwhelming. Forcing his mind to down-regulate the stimulus, Saitou concentrated on his sight.

The distant light sprang into sharp focus. It was a campfire. Surrounding it were about ten girls who looked to be roasting something white on sticks. _The girls from Aizu Academy,_ he identified. At first he thought they were roasting fish. However, when another girl held up an empty plastic bag emblazoned with red lettering, he realized the truth – marshmallows. _How in the hell did they get marshmallows in a town like this? I didn't even know they still made marshmallows._

Behind the fire, a girl stood up suddenly. Her laughing face was framed by two midnight braids that trailed over her pert breasts to curl at her waist. The firelight gilded every curve of her body, highlighting her beauty. Affectionately she placed her hand on another girl's head and ruffled the bangs. Saitou blamed the migrating larks for the sudden words that sprang into his mind: _From the earth thou springest, like a cloud of fire._

Wrenching his mind away from such poetical musings, he examined the scene more strategically. She looked older than the other girls, perhaps fourteen or fifteen. Another older girl seemed to be armed with a gun. He frowned when he couldn't make out any other weapons.

As the laughing girl thrust her marshmallow stick into the fire, he was struck with a terrible foreboding. Their fire was a beacon. The Black Lizard would see it as surely as Saitou had. It would attack them and coat the memory of this idyllic scene with a froth of blood. He would have to bury his little skylark without ever hearing her sing.

Heart racing, Saitou jumped down from the tree and rushed toward the clearing housing the schoolgirls and their fire. His body wove through the trees like water through a sieve, finding openings effortlessly. Earlier it had been a battle to move even ten yards through the forest. Now it felt as if he sprinted down a wide avenue.

Unimpeded, he reached an overlook above the schoolgirls' clearing in record time. As he burst out of the trees he saw his misty fears become concrete. The Black Lizard had come. It loomed on the opposite side of the clearing like a thundercloud about to break forth with a fury of hail.

Only his skylark seemed to notice. Then the only girl armed with a weapon jumped as if electrocuted and turned to look. Raising the barrel of her gun with a steady hand and wide eyes, she shot. Her bullet exploded one of the creature's bulbous eyes in a spray of gore. Saitou reached for his rifle before remembering it had been lost in his tumble down the hillside.

Not wasting his energy by swearing, Saitou immediately dropped flat and swung his legs over the edge of the overlook. Luckily it wasn't as high as the previous cliff. Several times he missed toe-holds in his haste and almost hurtled off into mid-air. He could hear terrified feminine screaming behind his back and smell the metallic tang of fresh-drawn blood. Sweat dripped into his eyes. Jumping the last eight feet, he drew his sword and raced into the clearing.

His little skylark, no longer laughing, stood in a basic kendo stance between the charging monster and the other girls. She was dressed in baggy pajamas and armed with only her marshmallow stick. He would have called her a pitiful sight if not for her face. It was incandescent: skin stretched taut across her cheekbones, eyes burning like coals, and stripped raw of everything but the desire to survive, to protect, to triumph.

Saitou sprinted forward and knew he wouldn't be fast enough. As those serrated fangs lunged for her heart he swallowed bitterly and committed himself to avenging her death. He already knew he would never forget her face.

When the Black Lizard was less than three feet away, she suddenly pivoted sideways and lunged with her stick. Stunned, Saitou watched as it burst through the creature's remaining eye and rammed into its brain. _Not a skylark, but a warrior – a Tomoe Gozen._

In a stroke of luck, the force of her blow tilted its head up just enough that the razor-sharp teeth pierced her shoulder instead of her heart or lungs. Not powerful enough to halt its forward momentum, the girl was buried underneath the body of the black abomination.

Sending out a whisper of power, Saitou sensed nothing from the beast, only from the girl buried beneath it. Reaching her side, he saw her eyes slowly blinking at the sky in shock or bemusement. Their focus slowly shifted to his white-gloved hands and the steel of his blade.

Not one to take chances, he quickly set about dismembering the Black Lizard to make sure it stayed dead. The other girls were still whimpering and crying by the fire, but for the moment he ignored them. He had more important things to worry about. From his bandoleer he pulled out a green powder made of mint, sea salt, and iron shavings. After sprinkling it on the body parts to ensure they remained inert, he tossed and kicked them to the far side of the clearing.

He'd shot the Black Lizard, stabbed it, and even burned it with a flamethrower earlier on when they'd cornered it at the edge of the forest. And still it kept on going. But this girl, who looked all of fourteen in her braids and baggy t-shirt, had killed it in one stroke – using a marshmallow roasting stick.

Hajime Saitou was in love.

TO BE CONTINUED

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**Dictionary**

Nihontou – Japanese sword

Ossu – Japanese for "Yes sir!" More commonly used in slang as "yo!"

Kami – God, nature spirits, reverence for nature in Japanese

Gokanzou – Japanese for five (_go_) senses (_kan_) increase or augment (_zou_, from the kanji _fuyasu_).

Kazan – Japanese for "volcano"

Kendo – The way of the sword (Japanese)

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**Author Notes: **Would it be more helpful to have the dictionary at the top of the chapter, or is the bottom acceptable? Anyone have an opinion on the order of chapter 3 and 4? Should I switch it so Saitou's chase is first instead of the campout? Does anyone besides me know who Tomoe Gozen is? Also, did anyone recognize the poetic allusion? It was Percy Bysshe Shelley's "To a Skylark." (According to katyclismic, Shelley is a ponce, but I like this poem so neaner.)

Tune in next time to learn just what the heck a Mirror is, what Saitou meant by calling her Tomoe Gozen, and to see some sexual healing. Just kidding on that last part! Sort of….

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**Please review!** I love hearing about specific lines and images you liked or disliked. I'm also a grammar nitpicker, so if you see a mistake please let me know what and where. If you can, please suggest foreign words/phrases for me to include. It would really help. Thanks for reading! 


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